NICEVILLE, FLA. — Luke Jungers came off the bench to score a career-high 17 points, sparking Omaha to a 88-78 victory in the consolation championship of the Emerald Coast Classic tournament Saturday afternoon at Northwest Florida State College.
Jungers was one of six players who scored in double figures for the Mavericks who won their second straight game in the tournament.
Forward Marquel Sutton scored 15 points, while guard JJ White collected 14 points and a game-high seven assists for Omaha.
“Luke (Jungers) had a great, great game,” said Omaha head coach Chris Crutchfield, whose team improved its record to 3-4. “He came off the bench and really gave us a spark when we needed it. Then he just continued to keep doing the same thing in the second half. He was just really good for us.”
Omaha shot a season-high 53.1 percent for the game (26-49), including a blistering 60.9 percent (14-23) in the second half.
“I think we made some steps yesterday in our growth and our maturity,” Crutchfield added. “I thought today there was even more growth. I challenged our guys before the game to make even more steps. Let’s be who I think we can be and be a good basketball team.“
Guard Brion Whitley led Southern with 23 points, including 19 points in the first half.
Southern raced to a 17-8 lead but Jungers helped bring the Mavericks back, drilling a three-point basket to tie the game at 25-25 with 5:41 left in the first half.
“We just battled back,” said Crutchfield. “I’m proud of our guys with the way they really hung in there and battled through some adversity.”
Frankie Fidler netted 13 points while starters Dylan Brougham and Jaeden Marshall had 11 apiece for Omaha.
The Mavericks took a page from Southern’s playbook by forcing the Jaguars into 17 points, scoring 19 points off those miscues.
Jurgens and Whitley were named to the all-tournament team.
