Husker Men Fall in Final Seconds to North Dakota

Lincoln — De’Sean Allen Eikens’ free throw with 7.3 seconds broke a 74-all tie, as North Dakota withstood Nebraska’s final attempt to hold on for a 75-74 victory at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

Eikens hit the first free throw, but missed the second attempt, and Dachon Burke Jr. grabbed the rebound and raced down the court for Nebraska, but his baseline jumper was off the mark, giving UND the upset.

Nebraska (5-7), which trailed by as many as eight points with just over eight minutes remaining, rallied behind the shooting of Matej Kavas, who had nine of his season-high 12 points in the final eight minutes. His 3-pointer started an 8-0 run that tied the score at 61 with 5:49 left.

UND (6-7) would regain the lead at 64-61 on a 3-point play from Marlon Stewart, who finished with a game-high 23 points to lead four Fighting Hawks in double figures.
Nebraska trailed 69-66 before a Burke basket and Kavas’ fourth 3-pointer of the night with 1:42 left gave Nebraska its first lead since the opening minutes at 71-69, but Allen-Eikens’ conventional 3-point play with 1:25 left put the visitors up one. The Huskers trailed 74-71 before Mack tied the game at 74 with 34.3 seconds remaining in regulation, setting up the final sequence.

Allen-Eikens and Filip Rebraca added 15 points reach for the winners, while Rebraca also grabbed 11 rebounds.

Mack led Nebraska with 19 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, while Kavas added 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range. Burke and Cheatham also finished in double figures with 10 points apiece, as Nebraska saw its three-game home win streak snapped.

Early on, North Dakota used the combo of Stewart and Rebraca to take a 35-30 lead into the locker room. The pair accounted for 24 of the Fighting Hawks’ 35 first-half points.

Nebraska built an early 6-2 lead, but North Dakota regrouped and used a 12-2 run of their own to build a 17-10 lead following a Stewart basket with 12:51 left in the stanza.

The Huskers started chipping away, as a 3-point play from Kevin Cross started an 11-4 spurt that pulled Nebraska within 21-19 with 8:44 left after a pair of baskets by Burke. Nebraska got to within 26-25 after a Kavas 3-pointer, but baskets by Strewart and Allen-Eikens quickly pushed the margin back to five points, as the Fighting Hawks shot 48 percent in the first half and took a five-point lead into the locker room.

Trailing 35-30, the Huskers used a 9-4 spurt to pull within one after an Yvan Ouedraogo basket with 16 minutes left, but UND answered with 3-pointers from Kienan Walter and Davids Atelbauers stretched the lead back to seven. On the day, UND went 11-of-31 from long range and kept the Huskers at bay until the final minutes.

The Huskers return from the holiday break next Sunday, Dec. 29, when Nebraska takes on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The start time will be either 1 or 3 p.m. but won’t be determined by BTN until Monday.

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