Box Score Kearney, Neb. – Junior forwards
Connor Beranek and
Ethan Brozek combined for 34 points and 14 rebounds to help Nebraska Kearney breeze by Doane College, 87-66, Monday night at the Health & Spots Center.
UNK, off since November 21st, improves to 2-1 while the NAIA Tigers remain at 6-6 as this was an exhibition contest for them.
Leading from start to finish, Kearney got out to an 18-6 advantage by the 13:30 mark and never looked back. Beranek (Ravenna) had 13 of his 17 points in the first half as the Lopers built a 19-point cushion.
Doane did close the half on a 10-2 run to trail by only 11, 42-31, at the intermission. UNK's lead quickly ballooned, however, to 22 points midway through the second half and the Tigers never got closer than 14 the rest of the night.
"It was really nice to give our kids some time off for the Thanksgiving Holiday. It's good for the kids to get away from the game, especially to see their families. It rejuvenates you mentally and we were pretty pleased with the effort we got tonight," said UNK co-head coach
Tom Kropp.
Brozek (Norfolk Catholic) went 5 of 5 from the field in the second half to finish with 17 points. He also had five rebounds, four assists, three blocks and three steals in a team-high 30 minutes.
Grabbing a team-high nine rebounds (eight defensive), Beranek's point total allowed him to reach 1,000 in his collegiate career (now 1,012). He tallied 492 his freshman season at Doane and has 520 as a Loper (16.8 pg).
Overall, UNK shot 55% from the field, sunk eight threes and tallied 26 points off of 15 Tiger turnovers.
Off the bench, six different Lopers scored, including nine from sophomore guard
Kevin Dineen (Creighton Prep) and eight from freshman guard
Lane Rohrich (Pierce).
"We're not going to get many nights where we can play our entire roster and give them some decent minutes. Our second unit was very good tonight; they came in and our lead actually grew in the first half," said Kropp.
Doane was led by Lincoln North Star graduate Deonte Holt, who had 27 points on 7 of 19 shooting.
UNK hosts Missouri Southern State Thursday night to start MIAA play
