Kearney, Neb. – Senior forward Trey Lansman had his 10th double double of the year and junior guard Isaiah McKay had his best game of the season as Nebraska-Kearney held off Missouri Western State, 78-71, Saturday evening at the Health & Sports Center.

The Lopers (8-10, 4-5) are now 6-1 at home and will play six of its final 10 games on the Buckle Court. Mo West (3-14, 1-9) loses an eighth straight game and falls to 2-8 in contests decided by 10 points or less.

Kearney came into the week also snake bit like in close games. But after Thursday's 66-59 win over No. 2 NW Missouri State and tonight's effort, UNK is now 6-9 in games decided by 10 points or less.

"They got up on us early so we switched things up with a three-quarters court press. That got us in transition and Isaiah hit three big threes to cut into their lead and away we went," said Loper head coach Kevin Lofton.

UNK led for the last 30 minutes but a game Griffons team hung around and almost came back from a 15-point hole with 6:44 to play. A Loper technical foul started the spurt and was capped with two free throws by junior Lavon Hightower. Suddenly, it was 68-64 with three to play.

"We came out well in the second half and stretched things out a little bit but they started to full court press and we got a bit passive and sloppy. It didn't have to be that exciting down the stretch," said Lofton.

The Lopers got a layup from senior guard Lane Rohrich (Pierce) and a dunk by reserve freshman post Weston Baker Magrath (Marshall, Minn.) to lead 72-66 with 1:55 left. Neither team scored again until Lansman (Harlan, Ia.) went 1 of 2 at the line with 49 seconds to go. Mo West's TJ Evans, who was hot most of the game, missed two threes during that scoreless minute.

Hightower hit a tough three from the corner to again make it a four-point game but UNK broke the press and that led to a layup by McKay with 22 ticks left. The Lopers then went 3 of 6 at the line to close things out.

Lansman finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds (11 defensive) in 34 minutes. Going 8 of 13 from the field (2 of 3 threes) and 5 of 7 at the line, he also blocked four shots and had five assists.  

"You hate to say it but you just expect that from Trey. He's doing some special things. Like some of our guys in the past, you really don't realize how good they are until you're not seeing them every night," said Lofton. "We'll try and enjoy every game with him as we go down the stretch."

After this weekend, Lansman now has 1,804 career points, eighth most in school history. He entered the week ranking in the NCAA Division II top 27 in seven different categories, including scoring, rebounding and double doubles. 

Looking like the player who earned 2017 honorable mention All-MIAA honors, McKay (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) tallied a season-high 16 points. He made six field goals, three from long range, and added four defensive rebounds and three assists. McKay has been banged up all year, missing nine games in total.

"I'm hoping this really ignites him because he is a good shooter. He's been searching for confidence and rhythm. Those three threes really looked good coming off his hands in the first half," said Lofton.

Coming off a big effort against Northwest, Rohrich had five assists and scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half. Off the bench, Baker Magrath had eight points, four rebounds and three blocks with sophomore forward Kyle Juhl (Harlan, Ia.) at nine points, five rebounds and two steals.

"We started to see glimpses of what we saw in the summer from (Weston). He's finishing strong around the rim and impacting the paint," said Lofton.

Hightower and Evans both scored 20 for Mo West with reserve post Seth Bonifas at 11 points, four blocks and four rebounds in just 19 minutes.

UNK heads to Lindenwoood (Thurs.) and Lincoln (Sat.) next weekend. These are the only games vs. the Lions and Blue Tigers this season.