Box score | Season stats

BOLIVAR, Mo. -- Despite 36 points and 20 rebounds from Matt Rogers, the #16 SBU Bearcats lost at home for the first time in nearly three years, as the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks won 99-91. The Mavericks used a 60% shooting second half to rally for the victory. 

"Nothing looks positive after a tough loss," said SBU assistant coach Tina Guiot. "UNO is a great team in this league and we just couldn't play smart. Playing hard is one thing but we have to play smarter. We allowed (UNO's Jeff) Martin to get 10 points in a row in the second half." 

The loss snapped the Bearcats' 38-game home court winning streak, which dated back to February 2007. Fort Hays State was last team to defeat the Bearcats in the Meyer Sports Center, a 74-64 win over the Bearcats late in Rogers' freshman season. 

"We did give it all tonight and never quit," Guiot added. "We require a lot of Matt and he stepped up a lot for our team. Tomas Brock wouldn't let us quit. We have high character guys but we all can improve though." 

The Bearcats (14-4, 5-3 MIAA) opened up a 12-point margin in the first half on multiple occasions. After SBU led 32-20 with just under seven minutes left in the first half, UNO would use a 12-4 run to cut the lead to four points. The Mavs would get to within a point before a three from Ryan Dougherty sent the teams to locker rooms with the Bearcats on top 46-42. 

The teams would stay close in the early minutes of the second stanza. A layup from Torrian Harris gave the Mavericks (13-2, 6-2 MIAA) the lead for good at 65-63 with 15 minutes left in the contest. The Bearcats got to within 78-73 with six minutes left but the Mavs pushed the lead to as much as 13 points. The Bearcats cut it back to five points in the final minutes before the Mavs hit 7 of 8 from the foul line in the last 56 seconds for the win.

Kurt Koenig tied a career high with 22 points for SBU, while Brock had 12 and Dougherty had 11 for the Bearcats. Rogers missed a career high in points by one point and set a new career mark with 20 boards. Dougherty and Tristan Steele each had career highs with six assists each. Andrew Bridger led the Mavs with 20 points, one of five Mavs in double digits. The Mavericks were 19 of 31 from the field and 15 of 20 from the foul line in the second half. 

SBU is on the road on Saturday afternoon, to take on the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats. Game time is 3:30 p.m. from Maryville as the purple Bearcats look to get back on track after dropping their last two games.

NOTES
• With his eight of eight performance from the line, Matt Rogers moved into second place all-time on the SBU career list for free throws made (371, surpassing Glenn Stanley) and free throw attempts (512, topping Donniel Harrell).