Box Score | Season Stats

OMAHA, Neb. - - Senior Ethan Freeman tied his career-high with 23 points and pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds, but a second-half surge by the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks sent the Bulldogs back to Kirksville on the losing end of an 83-70 decision on Wednesday night.

UNO (7-4, 4-3 MIAA) out-scored Truman 48-31 in the second half to turn a four-point Truman (3-8, 1-6 MIAA) halftime lead into a 13-point setback in Sapp Fieldhouse. The Bulldogs will return to Kirksville for a three-game homestand starting Saturday (Jan. 8) evening at 7:30 pm against Northwest Missouri State (4-7, 2-5 MIAA).

In a see-saw first half, the Bulldogs landed the first array of punches, scoring 14 in a row to turn a three-point lead into a 25-8 advantage during the game's first ten minutes. But UNO responded by tallying the next 12, cutting Truman's lead to five before eventually going ahead, 33-30. Truman, however, scored four straight to eventually carry a 39-35 lead into the intermission.

Freeman (Urbandale, Iowa, Urbandale) scored 13 points and pulled down eight rebounds to lead the 'Dogs in both categories during the first 20 minutes, while freshman Isaac Gardner (Washington, Iowa, Washington) drained three triples to add nine.

Nebraska-Omaha, though, came out of the blocks red-hot in the second half, building up a lead of eight at 57-49 through the first six and a half minutes. A Mitch Albers three-pointer pushed UNO's lead to 12, and, after the teams hovered around a double-digit margin for nearly four minutes, back-to-back deep threes by Norton (Bloomington, Ill., Bloomington Catholic) cut UNO's advantage to 72-63 with 6:35 remaining.

But Truman went ice cold for the next four-plus minutes, not scoring a point to cut into the UNO advantage, before Freeman hit a free throw at the 2:59 mark. That wasn't enough to get the 'Dog offense back on track though, as UNO held off the visiting purple and white for the 83-70 final.

Freeman finished with 23 points on 6-of-11 shooting and a 10-for-15 effort from the charity stripe, while also reeling in 14 rebounds – all on the defensive glass. Three other players – Gardner, Norton and Vesko Filchev (Plovdiv, Bulgaria, GPCHE) - finished with 11 points apiece, while both Alex Henderson (Willard, Mo., Willard) and Pat Sodemann (St. Louis, Mo., Parkway West) chipped in six each. Freeman led the 'Dogs with four assists, as Truman shot 40.7% (22-for-54) from the field as a team, including 9-for-27 from three-point range.

The 'Dogs were out-rebounded, 46-31, while each team committed nine turnovers. UNO was led offensively by Albers' 24 points, with Tyler Bullock adding 21.