Kansas
City, Mo.
? The UMKC men's basketball team dropped a 69-62 decision to Western Illinois on Saturday night at Municipal
Auditorium. The loss ends a 16-game
winning streak dating back to 1999 for the Kangaroos in the series against the
Leathernecks.
After trading buckets for the first five minutes of the
half, the Leathernecks used a 13-0 run over a five-minute stretch to push their
advantage to 21-8. The Kangaroos missed
11 straight shots during the spurt, as the team had a 9:44 scoring drought.
Junior Dane Brumagin ended the dry spell with a
three-pointer with 6:21 left in the half to cut the deficit to seven points
(21-14), but WIU quickly pushed its advantage to a half-high 14 points (35-21)
with 1:28 left before taking a 35-24 lead into the break.
The Kangaroos were frigid from the floor in the opening 20
minutes, as they made just 4-of-20 shot attempts. Western Illinois
also controlled the action on the glass, 25-12.
The Leathernecks maintained their 11-point lead (41-30)
early in the second half before UMKC went on its traditional second-half
spurt. The Kangaroos came to life with a
15-4 run over a five-minute stretch to even the game at 45. Brumagin connected on a pair of triples, as
he scored eight points during the spurt.
WIU's David DuBois answered quickly with a lay-up to give
the Leathernecks the 47-45 lead, an advantage they would never relinquish. Western stretched its lead to five points at
52-47 with 7:49 to play, and the advantage moved to six at 55-49 with 5:17
remaining.
Junior Brian Gettinger brought UMKC to within three with a
long ball with 5:03 left and two minutes later another triple cut the deficit
to two (59-57) with three minutes to play.
That's as close as the game would come, as the Leathernecks went on to
the seven-point victory.
The Kangaroos finished with a .314 (16-51) field goal
percentage and a .400 (10-25) mark from long range. WIU shot .385 (20-52) from the field and .333
(5-15) from behind the three-point arch.
The Leathernecks also won the battle on the boards, 43-32.
A pair of UMKC players finished the contest in double
digits. Brumagin paced the team with 21
points on 6-of-13 shooting, which included a 4-of-8 night from three-point
land. Gettinger, meanwhile, matched a
season-high with 17 points with four long balls. He also had a team-high seven rebounds.
Five Leatherneck players finished the game in double
figures, and a pair finished with double-doubles. David Jackson led the squad with 16 points
and 10 boards, while DuBois had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
UMKC (5-11, 0-4) will close out the non-conference portion
of its schedule on Tuesday night at Missouri.
