Indianapolis ? The UMKC men's basketball team erased
an 11-point deficit with 6:50 to play, but IUPUI came back to defeat the
Kangaroos, 72-69, on Wednesday afternoon at The Jungle. Senior Dane Brumagin notched his third
straight 20-point game in the contest, as he finished with a game-high 23
points.
IUPUI jumped out to a 7-2 lead over the first five minutes
of the contest before stretching its lead to nine (15-6) points at the 12:31
mark. The Kangaroos, however, pulled to
within five at the 11:16 mark courtesy of a Bakari Lewis three pointer.
The Kangaroos kept the margin within reach, as they trailed
by six points with 7:34 remaining in the half.
IUPUI, however, used an 11-3 run over a six-minute stretch to build its
lead to 14 before heading into the locker room with the 37-26 advantage.
The Jags pushed their lead to 13 points coming out of the
break before the Kangaroos got back into the game with an 11-1 run to climb to
within three at 42-39. Brumagin ignited
the run with a jumper before Lewis scored seven of nine points to bring the
?Roos to within three with 14:21 remaining.
UMKC then pulled to within a field goal at 46-44 following a
Brumagin three pointer with 12:32 to play, but the Jags responded by scoring
five-of-seven points to push their lead back to seven points. IUPUI then pushed its lead back to double
digits, as it went up 11 (62-51) with 6:50 to play.
The never-say-die Kangaroos responded with a 13-2 run to
even the tally at 64 all with 2:37 remaining.
Lewis opened the spurt with a three-pointer to get UMKC to within eight
before the Jags' Robert Glenn hit a jumper to stretch the margin back to double
digits.
Sophomore Reggie Hamilton scored the next five points to cut
the deficit to 64-59 before Brumagin nailed a three from the right corner to
make the score 64-62 with 3:34 left.
Following a media timeout, Spencer Johnson evened the score at 64 - the
first tie since 2-2 -with a put back off of an offensive rebound.
On the ensuing possession, Glenn nailed a 17-footer from the
wing to score the first of five unanswered points for the Jaguars. The Kangaroos pulled to within two twice in
the final 11 seconds but IUPUI made all but one of its free throws down the
stretch to defend its home court with the tight 72-69 victory.
UMKC finished the game with a .466 (27-58) field goal
percentage and a .400 (10-25) clip from long range. The Jaguars, meanwhile, shot .453 (24-53)
from the field and .429 (3-7) from three-point land. IUPUI did most of its damage from the charity
stripe, where it made 21-of-27 attempts compared to just 5-of-9 for the
Kangaroos.
Brumagin connected on 9-of-14 shot attempts, including
4-of-8 from long distance, en route to his 23-point performance. The forward also had six rebounds and four
assists in the game. Lewis finished with
a career-best 18 points on a 7-of-11 day from the floor, while Hamilton added 10. Johnson, meanwhile, grabbed a game-high 10
boards.
Glenn led a group of four Jaguar players in double digits on
the afternoon, as he finished with 18 points and nine rebounds.
UMKC (5-11, 1-2) will return to the hardwood on Friday night
at Western Illinois beginning at 7 p.m.
