Kansas City, Mo. ? The UMKC men's basketball team
dropped a 76-72 decision to UTSA on Monday night at Municipal Auditorium. The Kangaroos got a 26-point scoring output
by Dane Brumagin in the contest, but it wasn't enough in the four point loss.
UMKC surged out to a 20-14 lead in the contest behind 10
quick points by Brumagin over the first eight minutes. The Roadrunners, however, answered the ?Roos
quick start with a 20-6 run over a seven-minute span to stretch their lead to eight
at 34-26 with 5:41 left in the half.
The Kangaroos countered with a 15-3 run to close out the
half to take a 41-37 lead into the break.
Sophomore Reggie Hamilton scored the final seven points for UMKC during
the spurt.
Coming out of the locker room, the Kangaroos pushed their
lead to a game-high 10 points (49-39) with 18:16 left in the game, but UTSA
immediately got back into the contest with a 12-2 run to even the score at 51
with 14:59 to play.
The two teams battled over the next six minutes, as there
was one tie and four lead changes. UMKC
edged its lead out to four points (60-56) with 7:54 remaining before the
Roadrunners scored 10 unanswered points to build a 66-60 lead with 5:03 left in
the contest.
UTSA stretched its lead to eight points (70-62) courtesy of
an Omar Johnson lay-up with 3:10 left.
The Kangaroos kept battling, however, as they scored eight-of-nine
points to climb to within a point with 1:17 remaining.
Sophomore Bakari Lewis opened the scoring with a lay-up to
cut it to six. Following a UTSA free throw,
Spencer Johnson got UMKC to within five with a short jumper, Fred Ford
connected on free throw to make the score 71-67 and Brumagin cut the margin to
one at 71-70 with an old school three-point play.
On the ensuing possession, UTSA milked the clock before Johnson
slashed his way to the basket before connecting on a short jumper to again make
it a three-point game. Following a UMKC
30-second timeout, Ford turned the ball over with a shuffle of his pivot foot,
and UTSA made three of four free throws to leave town with a 76-72 victory.
The Kangaroos finished with a .472 (25-53) field goal percentage
and a .294 (5-17) from long range. The
Roadrunners, meanwhile, shot .370 (27-73) from the floor and .280 (7-25) from
three-point land. UTSA also held the
advantage on the boards, 45-42, as 21 of the rebounds came on the offensive
glass, which led to a 23-2 advantage in second chance points.
Brumagin's 26-point performance came on a 9-of-19 night from
the floor. It was his 20th
career 20-point game. Ford, meanwhile,
led the team on the glass with eight boards to go along with four assists.
Johnson led a group of four Roadrunner players in double
digits with 17 points. Forward Demarco
Stepter, meanwhile, tallied a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
UMKC (5-9) will have a six-day break before facing SIU
Edwardsville on Dec. 28 at Municipal Auditorium.
