Brookings, S.D.
? The UMKC men's basketball team ended an eight-game road losing streak
with a 64-58 victory at South
Dakota State
on Thursday night at Frost Arena. The
Kangaroos made 13-of-14 free throws in the second half, including 7-of-8 in the
final minute to pick up the six-point win.
SDSU opened the game strong by jumping out to an 8-2 lead
through the first three and a half minutes.
The Jacks then stretched their lead to eight points (16-8) behind a
Garrett Callahan three-pointer with 13:32 left in the half.
The Kangaroos answered with an 8-1 run to cut the deficit to
a single point at 17-16 with 9:59 remaining in the half. The two squads continued battling until a
Spencer Johnson three pointer from the corner evened the game at 23 with 6:25
left in the opening 20 minutes.
The Jackrabbits quickly regained the advantage on a Dale
Moss tip-in on the next possession. SDSU
then maintained its lead for the remainder of the half, as they headed into the
locker room up 34-31. UMKC shot .448
from the floor in the just half, but it made just 3-of-14 attempts from long
range.
South Dakota
State maintained its
advantage over the first five and a half minutes of the second half. With the score 43-40, Kenny Simms brought the
Kangaroos to within one, and he followed with a second straight field goal to
give UMKC the 44-43 lead with 10:37 remaining.
SDSU quickly regained the lead on a Mohamed Berte field goal,
but senior Tim Blackwell connected on a three-pointer at the 9:10 mark to give
UMKC the 47-45 lead. The Jacks answered on their next possession to tie the
game, but Blackwell connected on his second straight trey to put the Kangaroos
up three (50-47) with 7:43 remaining.
The Jackrabbits cut the deficit to a single point (50-49) at
the 7:22 mark, but SDSU then went cold as it went more than six minutes without
a field goal. The Kangaroos, however,
were only able to push their lead to four points during the stretch, as they
led 55-51 with 2:05 remaining.
SDSU wouldn't quit, as it cut the margin to two
points on a pair of occasions. UMKC
wouldn't wilt, however, as it made seven of eight free throws in the final
minute to pick up just its second road victory in its last 24 games.
UMKC shot .375 (21-56) from the floor and .292 (7-24) from
long range. SDSU, meanwhile, shot .462
(24-52) from the field and .357 (5-14) from behind the three-point arch. The Kangaroos also won the battle on the
boards, 36-33, and both teams finished the contest with 15 assists.
Junior Dane Brumagin paced UMKC with 20 points on 6-of-10
shooting, which included a perfect 6-of-6 night from the charity stripe. Blackwell was the only other player in double
digits with 13 points. Junior Brian
Gettinger led the squad on the glass with a game-best eight rebounds.
UMKC (7-12, 2-4) will continue its road trip on Saturday,
when it squares off against North Dakota
State in Fargo.
