By Terry Douglass
terry.douglass@theindependent.com

Lever scored a game-high 24 points to go with five assists and two steals in a 40-minute effort as the Lopers posted a 79-73 victory over Mesa State (Colo.) Friday night in a RMAC Tournament first-round game at the UNK Health and Sports Center.

"Garrett has had a tremendous second half of the season for us and tonight was probably his best game of the season," UNK co-head coach Tom Kropp said. "He was kind of feeling his way for a while and now he's got his confidence and has gotten comfortable.

"He was named the conference defensive player of the year, so all year long he's been really solid defensively, but tonight, he really stepped up on the offensive end."

With his mother, Charlene, watching him play in a UNK home game for the first time, Lever helped the Lopers (16-13) advance to the RMAC Tournament semifinals for a 14th consecutive year. Nebraska-Kearney will face Colorado Christian a 79-69 quarterfinal winner over Metro State (Colo.) at 5 p.m. CST Friday in Pueblo, Colo.

"I'm feeling a lot more comfortable," said Lever, whose 86 steals are four shy of a single-season school record. "Things are gelling and I've been working on my shot a little bit. It's all coming together."

Lever scored 15 of his 24 points in the second half and helped UNK do a large share of its damage from 3-point range. The Lopers were 14-of-24 from behind the arc, led by St. Edward freshman Jeremy Cruise's 5-of-8 shooting from deep, while Lever was 3-of-4.

"We've been doing that all year," said Lever, the son of former NBA standout Lafayette "Fat" Lever. "That's one of our specialties with Drake (Beranek) and Jeff (Martin) and Jeremy they shoot it real well. Plus, I was shooting well tonight and Cruise was, too, so it was just a good team effort."

UNK shot better from 3-point range (58.3 percent) than it did overall (50 percent). Meanwhile, Mesa State (13-14) was just 1-of-8 from behind the arc.

"We have really been shooting the ball well the last seven, eight, nine or 10 games," Kropp said. "Mesa State really makes it tough inside because they have good post defenders and they're not afraid to double down. So our post men really struggled tonight, but fortunately, our perimeter players did shoot the ball well."

Cruise followed up Lever's 24-point night with 21 points of his own. Beranek, a sophomore from Ravenna, recorded his 13th double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Jake Swartzendruber and Kurt Bangle scored 18 points apiece to lead the Mavericks. Justin Ashbaugh added 13 points and Ryan Mathews had 12 off the bench for Mesa St.

Three-pointers figured prominently in UNK's momentum throughout the contest. The Lopers hit 7-of-10 treys in the first half as Grand Island freshman Jake Johnson buried a 3-pointer with one second left in the first half to give the Lopers a 32-25 lead at the intermission.

In the second half, UNK built its largest lead of the night at 51-39 when Martin capped a 9-0 run with a 3-pointer with 11:32 to play. Beranek sank the first two threes as the Lopers scored from 3-point range on three consecutive possessions.

However, Mesa State refused to quit as Swartzendruber scored a layup to cut the Loper lead to 75-73 with 42 seconds left. Lever and Cruise each converted a pair of free throws in the final 31 seconds to seal the victory.

The close finish was nothing new for UNK. Kropp said 19 of his team's 29 games have now been decided in the last five minutes.

"This has been a year where it seems like every game has gone down just like tonight," Kropp said. "We were disappointed with the way we finished the game, but we're at the point in the season where we were just trying to find a way to win."

NEB.-KEARNEY 79, MESA ST. 73

MESA ST. (13-14)

Markham 1-3 0-0 2, Renneisen 0-1 0-0 0, Swartzendruber 9-10 0-0 18, Ashbaugh 6-12 1-3 13, Bangle 6-12 6-8 18, Crowe 0-0 0-0 0, Mathews 5-13 2-3 12, Mortensen 0-0 0-0 0, Carter 0-2 0-0 0, Flohr 1-2 0-0 3, Ekong 3-9 1-3 7.

NEB.-KEARNEY (16-13)

Lever 8-14 5-6 24, Cruise 7-10 2-3 21, Martin 2-9 0-0 6, Beranek 5-10 3-3 16, Parker 2-5 1-1 5, Johnson 1-1 0-0 3, Cooney 0-0 0-0 0, McCullough 2-5 0-1 4. Totals 27-54 11-14 79.

Halftime UNK 32, Mesa St. 25. 3-point goals Mesa St. 1-8 (Renneisen 0-1, Ashbaugh 0-1, Mathews 0-2, Carter 0-1, Flohr 1-2, Ekong 0-1), UNK 14-24 (Lever 3-4, Cruise 5-8, Martin 2-7, Beranek 3-4, Johnson 1-1). Fouled out Martin, Parker. Rebounds Mesa St. 40 (Ashbaugh, Ekong 8), UNK 25 (Beranek 10). Assists Mesa St. 15 (Swartzendruber, Ashbaugh, Ekong 3), UNK 17 (Beranek 6). Turnovers Mesa St. 14, UNK 15. Total fouls Mesa St. 18, UNK 17. Technicals None. A 1,829.

* WOMEN

UNK 85, Regis 71

KEARNEY The Nebraska-Kearney women advanced to the semifinals of the RMAC Tournament with an 85-71 victory over Regis (Colo.) Friday night at the UNK Health and Sports Center.

Amy Mathis led five players in double figures for Nebraska-Kearney (25-5) with 24 points and 10 rebounds, hitting 9-of-10 free-throw attempts. Jade Meads scored 15 points, Melissa Hinkley had 14 points and Kassi Schuppe and Centura graduate Ashlee Schneider each added 10 for the Lopers.

Paulina Tuell scored 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting to lead Regis (14-14). Steve Seitz hit 8-of-12 shots, including three 3-pointers, to finish with 21 points for the Rangers.

Both teams shot well as UNK hit 51.7 percent of its attempts from the floor, while Regis shot 50.9 percent. However, the Lopers outscored the Rangers 20-5 at the free-throw line while getting 21 more attempts.

UNK advances to face the Metro State (Colo.) an 88-60 quarterfinal winner over Adams State (Colo.) at 7 p.m. next Friday in Pueblo, Colo.

NEB.-KEARNEY 85, REGIS 71

REGIS (14-14)

Seitz 8-12 2-4 21, Vieira 0-4 0-0 0, Burley 2-5 2-2 6, Luebbe 2-9 0-0 4, Tuell 10-13 1-1 22, Pope 0-0 0-0 0, Martindale 4-10 0-0 10, Ault 3-4 0-0 8, Porter 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-57 5-7 71.

NEB.-KEARNEY (25-5)

Schuppe 4-4 2-3 10, Mathis 6-10 9-10 24, Hinkley 4-7 5-9 14, Meads 6-17 2-4 15, Mildenberger 3-7 0-0 6, Petri 1-3 0-0 2, Becker 2-3 0-0 4, Schneider 4-7 2-2 10. Totals 30-58 20-28 85.

Halftime UNK 43, Regis 37. 3-point goals Regis 8-22 (Seitz 3-6, Vieira 0-2, Burley 0-2, Luebbe 0-2, Tuell 1-1, Martindale 2-6, Ault 2-3), UNK 5-11 (Mathis 3-4, Hinkley 1-2, Meads 1-3, Mildenberger 0-1, Petri 0-1). Fouled out Seitz, Burley. Rebounds Regis 30 (Vieira 8), UNK 33 (Mathis 10). Assists Regis 20 (Burley 9), UNK 15 (Meads, Petri 4). Turnovers Regis 18, UNK 9. Total fouls Regis 19, UNK 13. Technicals None. A 926.