A little less than eight minutes remained and Nebraska-Omaha had reasonable control of the game when guard Tyler Bullock made a hustle play that sealed Missouri Southern’s fate.
Bullock bolted for a loose ball near midcourt, got possession of it and rushed to the basket.
Bullock missed the layup, but his teammate, Torrian Harris, was also hustling and got the put-back basket.
Harris was fouled on the play and he made the free throw. The sequence gave Nebraska-Omaha a 13-point lead.
“You can always look at games and one play or two plays can really sway momentum,” Nebraska-Omaha coach Derrin Hansen said. “I thought that was a big one for us. It was teetering a little bit. We couldn't pull away. Those are big plays because it gives you a little bit of separation. You never know when one play can change a game. We talked about that in practice. It’s that time of the year when one play, one steal, one rebound, whatever it is can get you over the hump. That was one of three or four plays that did that for us tonight.”
It gave No. 3 seed Nebraska-Omaha enough of a cushion to avoid an upset and beat Missouri Southern 89-83 on a day when shocking results ruled Friday at Municipal Auditorium.
Nebraska-Omaha, 20-8, is the highest seed left in the MIAA Men's Basketball Tournament.
The Mavericks held a comfortable lead much of the second half. The Lions did close to 56-53 with 11:24 left.
Bullock got Nebraska-Omaha back on track with a three-point play. Bullock concluded a 7-0 run with another bucket that increased the Mavericks’ lead to 63-53.
The hustle play by Bullock happened when Nebraska-Omaha held a 65-55 lead. The Mavericks’ advantage eventually grew to 70-55.
In the final minute, Missouri Southern made a furious charge and closed to 87-83 with 18.1 seconds left. But time ran out on the Lions.
Two players for Missouri Southern gave Nebraska-Omaha all sorts of problems in the first half. Mariun Price scored 19 points and Jason Adams had 12.
But their contributions weren't enough to give the Lions a first half lead.
Nebraska-Omaha went into halftime with a 45-36 lead. A big reason for the Mavericks' advantage was because of the play of Andrew Bridger, who scored eight points and had five assists.
Also helping Nebraska-Omaha was Harris, who scored 14 points in the first 20 minutes.
"We came in well prepared and coach got us to turn up the intensity on defense," said Harris, who finished with 26 points.
