By: Owen Godberson
While many fans had Thanksgiving dinner on their mind last week, the Omaha Men’s Basketball team looked to have a celebration of their own at Baxter Arena as they hosted the Cayman Islands Classic Mainland Tournament at Omaha.
The Mavericks played the opening round against the Southern Jaguars, and looked to keep their momentum going after picking up a Power-5 win on the road against Washington State.
Omaha’s junior forward Matt Pile put on a classic of his own across the two-game tournament, racking up double-doubles in Omaha’s 78-51 win against Southern as well as in the 70-65 victory over the Loyola-Maryland Greyhounds.
In the championship game against Loyola-Maryland, senior guard JT Gibson did what only 39 other Mavericks before him had done and recorded his 1,000-career point in crimson and black.
Junior guard Ayo Akinwole also showed out for Omaha, dropping a combined 24 points in both contests, as well as racking up 10 assists.
The lone team in the competition that Omaha didn’t face was former Summit League foe Indiana University Purdue University of Indianapolis. IUPUI lost the first round to Loyola-Maryland 81-77, and lost the losers bracket game against Southern 83-77.
Omaha has since lost on the road at Saint Mary’s, their first of four straight road contests where they’ll also face Arkansas State, Northern Arizona, and Arizona in the coming weeks.
