Omaha men’s basketball found a way to win 78-66 over York University.
Yes, that York University, the program that has lost 29 of its last 32 games and entered the game with a 1-3 record.
Maverick head coach Chris Crutchfield said it was an unacceptable effort in the first half. That is one way to put it.
“Our guys just came out and thought they were going to sleepwalk through a game because of the opponent,” Crutchfield said. “I told them this is their Super Bowl. York is going to come in here and fight you, NAIA or not; they are going to come here and fight and compete. We didn’t have the right frame of mind in the first half. We didn’t have the right effort in the first half.”
The Mavericks struggled mightily on Tuesday night, making just 25 of their 65 field goal attempts and only five of their 24 shots from beyond the arc. They were an abysmal 23-of-44 from the free-throw line.
“Our effort wasn’t good, our execution wasn’t good, nothing was good,” Crutchfield said. “We couldn’t even make free throws.”
The Mavericks played without second-leading scorer Cah’mai Crosby, who head coach Chris Crutchfield said was out for precautionary reasons with a thigh bruise he sustained in practice on Monday.
The Mavs were intolerable to watch for the first 32 minutes of the game.
York University, an NAIA school from east central Nebraska, pushed the Mavericks to the brink. Omaha Central grad Awit Mamer hit a 3-pointer to give the Panthers a seven-point lead, 55-48, with 7:57 left in the second half.
After a timeout, the Mavs flipped a switch.
“I told them they were going to win the game, but your effort is going to have to change,” Crutchfield said. “Your body language has got to change.”
Freshman Jonny Jordan led the turnaround, scoring five points during a 12-0 run. With Jordan, fellow point guard Grant Stubblefield, Deke Thompson, Justin Bolis and Isaac Ondekane on the floor, the Mavs went on an extended 17-2 run and finished the game outscoring the Panthers 30-11.
“We settled in the last 10 minutes of the game and played with much better passion, much better effort, which got us back in the game and gave us a chance to win,” Crutchfield said. “We’ve got to be better.”
On the flip side, all the missed shots — a combined 81 of them from the field plus Omaha’s 19 missed free throws — allowed the Mavericks to break the school record with 59 rebounds, topping the team’s 57 caroms against York last season.
“We were way bigger than that team,” Thompson said. “We were supposed to go out there and dominate on the glass like we did. We didn’t really dominate the first half. We had a lot more missed shots, so more opportunities to get the ball.”
Thompson, the team’s leading scorer in the first three games, finished the game with a double-double, 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Career Night for Bolis
Tuesday night wasn’t a debut, but more of an unveiling for Justin Bolis. The Nebraska transfer dominated the game with 29 points and 12 rebounds in 24 minutes of action. Bolis finished the game 9-for-10 from the field, including 2-for-2 from the free-throw line.
“I was being a little hard on myself, just because of the slow start,” Bolis said. “I knew that eventually it was going to get going … I’ve just got to keep the momentum and keep it rolling.”
It’s a performance the Mavs have been waiting for from Bolis. In their first three games, the 6-foot-7 forward averaged just 3.0 points and 3.0 rebounds.
“This is a big boost,” Crutchfield said. “He needed a game like this. He needed this boost because he hadn’t played well earlier in these games. Against BYU and Utah State, sometimes you are just overmatched, especially for a guy that doesn’t have confidence and hadn’t done it at that level. This could be the game that opens his eyes and jump-starts him.”
