Lopers hang on to edge Western Colorado, 76-76
KEARNEY — D'Aundre Samuels' layup with 40 seconds left put the University of Nebraska at Kearney ahead for good as they beat Western Colorado 76-75 Tuesday night at the UNK Health and Sports Center.
Even though the Lopers had to make two defensive stops after Saunders' bucket, the Lopers prevailed in a game that saw the lead change hands 12 times.
Nine of the lead changes came in the last 7 minutes. Four came in the last 100 seconds.
"They just fought. They were tough. They were gritty and that's what I told them, they've got to be tough and gritty and mentally just laser-focused there," interim UNK coach Antoine Young said.
Saunders, a freshman from Denver, finished with 15 points, sharing the team lead with forward Sean Murphy, who had 11 rebounds to go with his 15 points.
Murphy has been the one who has set the tone for tough, gritty play by rebounding and getting after the 50-50 balls, Young said.
"He's been our rock. ... He's showing the example to some of the other guys to kind of fall suit. He's been exceptional for us so far." Young said.
Back-to-back baskets by Winston Cook with 6:50 left, gave UNK its first lead in 22 minutes and set off the back-and-forth scoring down the stretch.
Key baskets by Murphy, Ryder Kirsch, Saunders and Sean Evans kept the Lopers (2-1) in it.
Evans finished with 13 points to give UNK three players in double figures.
Back-to-back baskets by Saunders, as well as an 'and-1,' gave UNK an 11-2 lead just 41⁄2 minutes into the game. But the Mountaineers (2-2) came roaring back to lead by seven with 6 minutes left in the first half.
Xavier Harris came off the bench to lead the comeback with 14 first-half points. However, he went scoreless in nine minutes of play in the second half.
Outside shooters Avery Rembao and Andrew Reichart, each with three 3-pointers, led Western with 19 and 17 points, respectively.
Young said he was happy to see the Lopers overcome the first-half run by the Mountaineers
"For about 10 minutes there, things were not going well for us. They weren't good," Young said. "I felt like, in the past, some guys would put their heads down or maybe stop playing as hard and today they took a step forward by continuing to play hard and make the grimy plays. That's what won the game."
UNK will be back in action Saturday, playing on the road at Wayne State.
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