Kansas
City, Mo.
? The UMKC men's basketball team picked up its first Summit League victory
of the season with a 63-60 win over Southern Utah
on Saturday night at Municipal Auditorium.
Junior Dane Brumagin guided the Kangaroos to the victory, as he tallied
the team's first double-double of the season with 21 points and 10 boards.
The two squads were even through the first six and a half
minutes of the game, as the score was tied at seven all. The Thunderbirds then went on an 11-2 run to
build their advantage to 18-9 at the 10-minute mark.
The Kangaroos answered with an 11-2 spurt of their own to
even the game at 20 apiece. Four
different players scored during the run for UMKC, as Tim Blackwell connected on
a three-pointer at the 5:56 mark to tie the game. The two teams then traded buckets to close
out the half, and a Brian Gettinger tip-in at the buzzer gave the Kangaroos the
28-25 lead heading into the break.
UMKC stretched its lead to six points coming out of the
locker room, but the Thunderbirds then buckled down on defense, as they limited
the Kangaroos to just one field goal over the first 10 minutes. SUU, however, wasn't able to capitalize, as it
led by just three points (35-32) at the 10:36 mark.
Senior Tim Blackwell ended the UMKC drought with a field
goal to cut the deficit to one at 35-34.
The senior then made three pointers on three consecutive trips down the
floor, but SUU had an answer each time, as UMKC built just a 43-40 lead.
The T-Birds tied the score at 43 before stretching their
lead to four points on a Geoff Payne dunk with 5:18 to play. Blackwell then cut the deficit to two with a
pair of free throws, but Payne answered with a jumper to put SUU up four at
51-47.
With the score 56-52 with 3:04 left, Blackwell connected on
a field goal to get UMKC to within one.
After a defensive stop, the Kangaroos got a long three pointer from
Brian Gettinger at the 1:45 mark to give the team the one point lead ? a lead
they would never relinquish.
The Kangaroos pushed the margin to three courtesy of a pair
of Brumagin free throws, but Payne brought SUU to within a point with two free
throws of his own with 51 seconds to play.
UMKC held the ball on its next possession until Reggie Hamilton found
Brumagin on a backdoor cut to put UMKC up three (61-58) with 21 seconds
remaining.
SUU cut the deficit to a point on a Dave Marek lay-up, but
Blackwell made both of his free throws to keep the margin at three. The T-Birds had one last shot to send the
game into OT, but Marek's three at the buzzer failed, as UMKC claimed the
three-point victory.
UMKC finished with a .396 (19-48) field goal percentage and
a .400 (8-20) mark from three-point land.
SUU, meanwhile, shot .467 (21-45) from the field and .267 (4-15) from
long range. The Kangaroos also dominated
the action on the glass, 35-22.
Three UMKC players finished in double figures with Brumagin
leading the way with 21 points on 6-of-13 shooting and 10 rebounds. In addition to being the Kangaroos' first
double-double of the season, it is also the first for the team since Feb. 15,
2007. Blackwell finished with 20 points
on 6-of-11 shooting and Gettinger added 10 points and seven boards.
Payne was one of two SUU players to finish in double
digits. The forward scored 30 points on
10-of-13 shooting to go along with a 10-of-13 night from the charity stripe.
UMKC (6-12, 1-4) will hit the road for its next two games
beginning with a match-up at South
Dakota State
on Jan. 17.
