Omaha Men Win First Ever Summit League Tournament Title
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - There's no need to pinch yourself. The Omaha Mavericks are the Summit League tournament champions. With its March Madness ticket already punched, top-seeded Omaha was determined to leave Sioux Falls with a larger souvenir than a swag bag. The Mavericks defeated #2 St. Thomas, 85-75, Sunday night to return to Nebraska with a net draped around their necks, hardware in hand, and the program's Division I wins record with 22.
Leaders for Omaha
JJ White had his second-best game of the season, leading the team with 29 points as he went 10-of-14 from the floor and dished out five assists. White dropped 18 points in the second half alone.
Marquel Sutton posted his 13th career double-double of the season with 22 points and a career-high 18 rebounds. Lance Waddles added 15 points.
Team Stats
Omaha shot a season-high 49.1% (28-for-57) from the field vs. just 40.3% (25-for-62) for St. Thomas. The Mavericks also topped the Tommies in 3-PT FG% at 39.1% (9-for-23) to 28.6% (10-for-35) and FT% at 74.1% (20-for-27) to 62.5% (15-for-24).
The Mavericks out-rebounded St. Thomas 42 to 31, nearly identical to its semifinal performance, and had a 38 to 28 scoring edge in the paint.
Inside the First Half
It took nearly six minutes into the game, but White drained a 3-pointer to give Omaha its first lead, 12-11, with 14:18 to play in the game. St. Thomas quickly answered, but the Mavericks answered. Joshua Streit tipped swatted a rebound out to the left wing where Waddles collected it, stepped back and drained a go-ahead 3-pointer, 15-13. Omaha led for the next five minutes before St. Thomas used a brief five-point run to move back in front. With 7:11 remaining in the half, Kamryn Thomas came up with a steal, setting up a Waddles' 3 and regain Omaha's lead, 25-24. Despite two ties in the next two minutes, but the Tommies didn't lead again.
Omaha closed the half on a 10-4 run to lead 39-33 at the half, as the Mavericks shot 50% from the field in the first half and held St. Thomas to 36.4%.
Waddles and White each scored 11 points in the first half, while Sutton dropped a double-double 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Inside the Second Half
Omaha started the second-half scoring with a statement alley-oop dunk from Sutton, assisted by White. A 12-3 run to open the second half catapulted Omaha to a 15-point lead, 51-36, with 14:59 to play in the game.
St. Thomas chipped the Mavericks' lead down to six points, 57-51, on a jump hook by Kendall Blue, but Omaha scored four-straight to push its lead back into double-digits. Omaha shot 48% in the second half to secure the win.
Game Notes
- Sutton moved to 10th place on the Mavericks' all-time scoring list, and third in the DI era, with 1377 points. He is also now ninth on the all-time rebounds list with 634, which is second in the DI era.
- Sutton is now third all-time on Omaha's single-season scoring list with 651 points on the season and is 13 away from tying the record 664 points scored by Frankie Fidler last year for the most by a Maverick in the Division I era.
- Omaha will be appearing in its first NCAA Division I tournament.
- Omaha is now 1-2 in Summit League Championship Finals, previously finishing runner-up in 2016-17 and 2018-19.
- The 2024-2025 team's 22 wins breaks the 2018-19 team's Division I era record 21 wins.
- During its NCAA Division II era, the Mavericks previous won conference tournament titles 2004, 2008 and 2010 and qualified for 12 NCAA Division II National Tournaments with the last one coming in 2010.
Up Next
With their ticket to the NCAA tournament punched, the Mavericks will find out their first opponent and destination on Sunday, March 16, when the NCAA Men's Selection Show airs on CBS at 5 p.m. CT.