Kansas
City, Mo.
? The UMKC men's basketball team dropped its first home game of the season,
65-54, to Eastern Washington on Monday night
at Municipal Auditorium. Freshman Reggie
Hamilton was the lone player in double figures for the team, as he finished with
a game-high 19 points in the defeat.
Defense was the name of the game over the first eight
minutes of the contest, as the Eagles clung to just a 12-10 lead. EWU then stretched its advantage to 12 points
over the next six minutes of the half thanks to a 15-3 run. Forward Kellen Williams keyed the spurt with
seven points for the Eagles during the stretch.
The Kangaroos climbed to within eight points with close to
four minutes remaining in the half, but Eastern Washington
stretched its lead to a half-high 13 points heading into the intermission.
The Eagles then extended their advantage to a game-high 16
points out of the break on a Gary Gibson three-pointer to make the score
37-21. The lead remained in double
digits until midway through the second half when UMKC would make its run.
Trailing by 13 at 45-32, the Kangaroos used a 10-2 run over
a four minute stretch to get to make it a game, as the deficit was just five
points. Hamilton single handedly shot UMKC back into
the game, as he scored all 10 of the points during the spurt.
The Eagles, however, continued executing its offense, as
they built their lead back to eight points at the 6:06 mark. The Kangaroos got to within four points ?
their closest lead since the score was 14-10 ? thanks to a Tim Blackwell three
pointer with 3:40 remaining.
After a pair of EWU free throws, junior Dane Brumagin
connected on a jumper to keep pace, but Eagles connected on a pair of field
goals and made all six of its free throws down the stretch to claim the contest,
65-54.
UMKC finished with a .333 (18-54) field goal percentage and
a .471 (8-17) three-point mark in the game.
EWU, meanwhile, shot .449 (22-49) from the floor and .500 (6-12) from
long range. The Kangaroos won the battle
on the boards, 37-33, but the team finished with just six assists to 15
turnovers.
Hamilton
scored his career-high 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting, which included a 4-of-5
night from long range. Blackwell was
next highest scorer for the team with nine points. Senior Jeremiah Hartsock, meanwhile, had a
team-high seven rebounds to go along with six blocks.
UMKC (3-5) will open Summit League play on Thursday night at
Oakland. The game will tip-off at 6 p.m. at The O'Rena
in Rochester, Mich.
