Kansas City, Mo. -- The UMKC men's basketball team
dropped a 77-71 decision to SIU Edwardsville in its non-conference finale on
Sunday afternoon at Municipal Auditorium.
Senior Dane Brumagin led all players with a 34 point scoring output in
the defeat, but it wasn't enough as the Cougars shot 66 percent from the floor
to end their seven-game losing streak.
SIUE came out blazing from the field over the first 10
minutes of the contest, as it made 10-of-13 shot attempts to build a 24-16
advantage. The Cougars then stretched
their lead to a game-high nine points (28-17) with 7:32 to go in the half.
Back-to-back field goals by Spencer Johnson pulled the
Kangaroos to within five points (28-23) with 6:13 on the clock, and the squad
got to within four twice in the closing minutes. SIUE's Aaron Garriott, however, connected on
a long three heading into the break to send his team into the locker room with
the 38-31 lead.
The Cougars stretched their lead to nine points on a pair of
occasions coming out of the half before the Kangaroos re-emerged behind the
play of Brumagin. The forward scored
17-of-the-team's-19 points over the first six and a half minutes of the second half
to give UMKC the 50-49 lead ? its only lead of the game.
With the score tied at 52, SIUE put together a 14-5 run over
a six-minute span to build its lead to nine points at 66-57. The Kangaroos, however, responded with seven
unanswered points to pull to within two.
Brumagin opened the scoring with a lay-up before Johnson had a tip-in to
get his team to within five points.
Freshman Latreze Mushatt then scored the final three points to make the
score 66-64 with 2:48 remaining.
The Kangaroos stayed within striking distance until Garriott
had a back-breaking three-point play to stretch the SIUE advantage to five
(71-66) with 1:49 left in the game. UMKC
got to within three with 1:16 remaining, but the Cougars made all four of their
free throws in the final 30 seconds to claim the 77-71 victory.
UMKC shot a respectable .474 (27-57) from the floor, but
just 3-of-16 from long range. SIUE,
meanwhile, shot a staggering .660 (31-47) from the field and .500 (4-8) from
three-point land in the game. The
Cougars also won the battle on the glass, 26-25.
Brumagin made 12-of-19 shot attempts, which included a
3-of-5 day from long range, en route to his 34-point performance. Johnson was the only other ?Roo in double
figures, as he finished with 14 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
Garriott led a group of three Cougar players in double
figures with a career-high 24 points. The
guard made all eight of his shot attempts to go along with four rebounds and
four assists. Center Nikola Bundalo,
meanwhile, added 14 points on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting performance.
UMKC (5-10) will return to Summit League play on Wednesday afternoon
in Indianapolis
against IUPUI.
