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University of Nebraska - Kearney Athletics

Darrian Nebeker
Wayne State Athletics
90
Neb.-Kearney UNK 5-8,1-6 Mid-America Intercollegiate
97
Winner Northeastern St. NE 8-5,3-4 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Neb.-Kearney UNK
5-8,1-6 Mid-America Intercollegiate
90
Final
97
Northeastern St. NE
8-5,3-4 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 OT 2 F
Neb.-Kearney UNK 35 35 10 10 90
Northeastern St. NE 34 36 10 17 97

Next Game:

Central Missouri

1/8/2022 | 4 p.m.

The River 93.1/106.9 KRVN FM

Next Game

Full Schedule
Jan. 08 (Sat) / 4 p.m.
 Central Missouri
History

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

A Rare Double OT Game Goes NSU's Way, 97-90

 Kearney, Neb. – Six players reached double figures and Northeastern State finished on a 7-0 run to down Nebraska-Kearney in double overtime, 97-90, Saturday evening in Tahlequah, Okla.

The RiverHawks, who had lost seven straight to UNK at home, improve to 8-5 (3-4) and to 5-1 in Tahlequah. UNK falls to 5-8 (1-6) which includes four setbacks by 11 points or less.

"Unfortunately, we've been here so many times over the last three years. I thought we played better than Saturday (at Rogers State). That was the number one goal coming into today … Northeastern has had some impressive wins including at Washburn so we knew they were a good opponent," said UNK head coach Kevin Lofton on the KRVN radio post-game radio show. "Our kids came in a battled and we gave ourselves multiple opportunities throughout regulation and in both overtimes.  We just couldn't make that one play that we needed to make that would've won us the game."

The Lopers, playing its first double OT game since the famed 2003 NCAA Central Regional final win over Metro State, was poised to steal one as it led 70-67 with 21 seconds left in regulation after two free throws from point guard David Simental (Pueblo West, Colo.). Over the first 40 minutes neither team held a lead of more than seven points with the game featuring an unprecedented 23 lead changes and 11 ties.

NSU sunk only one triple in the first half but made seven over the final 30 minutes. Grad transfer Tylor Arnold hit one of his three treys to put the 'Hawks up 65-63 with 1:42 left. After UNK responded with a 7-2 run, sophomore Christian Cook tied things up with 12 seconds left on left wing three. Simental, after a timeout, had a chance to win it but his contested layup hit the backboard and then iron as the buzzer sounded.

UNK rallied from deficits of 78-72 and 80-74 in the first OT to force another five minutes. A 6-0 closing spurt featured a Simental runner and four Loper made freebies. This time, with things tied at 80, NSU had a chance to win but post Emeka Obukwelu misfired on a shot in the lane with time winding down.

Post Darrian Nebeker (West Jordan, Utah), who was dinged with a third foul early in the second half, gave the Lopers an 81-80 lead to start the second extra session. However, he and senior post Austin Luger (Alliance) both fouled out in this period, giving NSU a huge size advantage. The 'Hawks sunk two freebies after Nebeker's fifth foul to move ahead 84-81 with 3:24 and never looked back. UNK did have things tied up at 90 with 1:28 remaining but the 'Hawks knocked down a corner three and then turned a Loper turnover into two made freebies and a 95-90 cushion with 26 seconds remaining.

"We had our two bigs (Darrian and Austin) on the bench with foul trouble throughout the game. We have to stay away from the silly ones … you're going to get ones that you earned. But it's the ones where you do silly things that mount up during the course of the game," said Lofton. "Now we get into a crucial situation and we can't use you."

Simental finished with a game-high 30 thanks to 14 of 15 free throw shooting and seven made buckets (two threes). Over 49 minutes he also drew 10 fouls, had four assists and three boards. This marks Simental's fifth 30-point D2 effort (four at CSU-Pueblo and one at UNK). Nebeker had the hot hand early before his foul trouble set in and ended with a career-best 25 points. He was 9 of 18 from the floor and 6 of 7 at the line while also having six boards and five dimes.

NSU made seven more shots than UNK and also was plus four on the glass. A balanced attack saw senior reserve Rashard Perkins go for a team-high 24 points thanks to four treys and 8 of 9 free throw shooting. He also had nine rebounds with Arnold (20 points & nine rebounds) also close to a double double.

"I was proud (of our team using the zone defense). Last year we used a lot of zone and got pretty good at it. This year we hadn't used it outside of maybe four possessions," said Lofton. "For them to come out, fly around and compete .. I was proud of that. It was out of necessity, especially when our bigs into fouls trouble."

UNK, going 24 of 28 at the line, also got 11 points from freshman Sean Evans (Parker, Colo.) with Luger having 15 rebounds and 10 points. This marks his fifth career double double.

The Lopers host Lincoln (1-10, 0-6) and Central Missouri (6-4, 3-3) this weekend.



 
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Players Mentioned

Austin Luger

#30 Austin Luger

F
6' 8"
Junior
Darrian Nebeker

#5 Darrian Nebeker

F
6' 6"
Senior
David Simental

#10 David Simental

G
6' 2"
Redshirt Junior
Sean Evans

#23 Sean Evans

G
6' 3"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Austin Luger

#30 Austin Luger

6' 8"
Junior
F
Darrian Nebeker

#5 Darrian Nebeker

6' 6"
Senior
F
David Simental

#10 David Simental

6' 2"
Redshirt Junior
G
Sean Evans

#23 Sean Evans

6' 3"
Freshman
G