UNK Men Fall In Overtime

Senior guard Antwan Kimmons scored 33 points and senior wing Marcus Skeete added 21 points and 15 rebounds to help Concordia-St. Paul get past Nebraska-Kearney in overtime, 95-93, Friday night in Marshall, Minn.

This was the season-opener for both squads. UNK faces tourney host Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday.

Not only was this the debut of head coach Marty Levinson but also most of the roster; UNK has 15 newcomers 17-players. CU, picked to finish eighth in the 15-team NSIC, was plus 14 on the glass, out shot UNK by 12 percentage points and attempted 17 more free throws. However, the Lopers went 12 of 26 from deep and got 25 bench points to hang around and then had shots to win it in both regulation and extra time.

Down 69-60 with seven to play, UNK went on an 8-0 run that featured two threes from junior guard Elijah Knudsen (Mead, Colo.). A bucket from senior forward Chereef Knox (Philadelphia) made it 72-71 with 4:27 left, giving UNK's its first lead since early in the half. The Lopers then went on a 7-1 run to erase a three-point hole. Graduate guard Allen Taylor (Bradley, Ark.) scored four straight and then fifth-year senior forward Chase Thompson (Omaha Westside) nailed one of his five threes to make it 82-79 at the 51 second mark.

CU then called a timeout with the shot clock at nine. Unfortunately, Skeete was fouled from behind the arc as the shot clock was about to expire. He hit all three freebies and then Taylor missed two threes from the wing, sending the game into overtime.

A Thompson trey gave UNK a 91-89 advantage, but the Golden Bears finished on a 6-2 run that featured six freebies. Kimmons, a Northern Iowa transfer, did miss a free throw with 2.4 seconds left but a 30-footer from the wing by Kendrick Gilbert (St. Louis) hit the back of the iron and rolled off as the buzzer sounded.

Kimmons reached his point total by going 12 of 17 (1 of 3 threes) from the field and 8 of 14 at the line. He also had five assists, two blocks and drew eight fouls. Next, Skeete was an efficient 6 of 9 from the field (4 of 5 threes) and 5 of 7 at the line while having 13 defensive and two offensive caroms. CU also got 19 points from starting guard Ben Kopetzki and 12 points, on 6 of 7 shooting, from starting forward Cade Meyer.

For UNK, Thompson had all his team-high 23 points after halftime. He made eight shots and added five rebounds, three steals and drew five fouls. Guard Ja'Bryant Hill (Duncanville, Texas) had 10 of his 22 points in the first half while adding eight assists and five rebounds. Before fouling out early in OT, Taylor had 18 points, a team-high seven boards and four dimes.  Off the bench, Knox had 10 points, six rebounds and drew four fouls in about 15 minutes of work.