Kansas City
Oakland
Brumagin and Johnson Post Double-Doubles; UMKC Falls To Oakland, 84-78
12/4/2008 11:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Kansas City, Mo. -- The UMKC men's basketball team dropped an 84-78 decision to Oakland in its Summit League opener on Thursday night at Municipal Auditorium. The Kangaroos had two players finish the contest with double-doubles in the defeat, as Dane Brumagin had 29 points and 10 rebounds, while Spencer Johnson finished with 20 points and 13 boards.
The Golden Grizzlies started the game strong,as it made 5-of-8 shots to open the contest to build a 10-3 advantage over the first four minutes. The Kangaroos responded with a 9-0 run to grab the 12-10 lead at the 13:51 mark behind five points by Brumagin. The two teams then played to three ties and four lead changes over the next six minutes.
Trailing by a point (21-20), OU got back-to-back three pointers by Erik Kangas and Blake Cushingberry to take a 26-21 lead with 6:41 to go in the half. UMKC battled back to tie the score at 27 on a pair of Brumagin long balls, but the Grizzlies pushed their lead to six points three times heading into the locker room with the final coming at 37-31 with 1:47 remaining. UMKC got a lift heading into the break, as Brumagin connected on his fifth three pointer of the half to cut the deficit to two at 41-39.
UMKC evened the tally at 43 coming out of the half, but Oakland quickly regained the advantage on a Cushingberry three-point play to go up 46-43 with 18:35 remaining. OU then went on a run over the next four minutes to stretch its lead to a game-high 10 points (60-50) with 13:50 left.
The Kangaroos began battling back as they quickly cut the margin to five (60-55) on a Johnson trey and a Brumagin lay-up. UMKC then pulled to within two points (67-65) on a Fred Ford three-pointer with 8:21 to play. OU answered with a pair of free throws and a Keith Benson dunk to stretch its margin back to six points.
UMKC continued edging its way back into the contest, as the clock wound down. Trailing by five at 76-71, the Kangaroos made six straight free throws to grab a 77-76 lead - their first lead of the second half. On the following OU possession, guard Erik Kangas drilled a deep three-pointer to give his team the two point lead at 79-77 with 53 seconds remaining. The Grizzlies then made five-of-six free throws in the final 32 seconds to run out 84-78 winners.
The Kangaroos shot .338 (22-65) from the floor and .359 (14-39) from long range in the game. The 14 three-pointers were a season-high for the squad. OU, meanwhile, finished with a .492 (31-63) field goal percentage and a .217 (5-23) mark from three-point land. UMKC also won the battle on the glass, 44-36.
Brumagin's double-double was the second of his UMKC career, and it came on a 8-of-17 night from the floor. Johnson's double-double, meanwhile, was his first of his career. He made 4-of-7 three-pointers in the game, and 10 of his 13 rebounds came on the offensive glass. Sophomore Reggie Hamilton was the third Kangaroo in double figures with 15 points, and he also finished with a career-best nine assists.
Four OU players finished in double digits with Benson leading the way with 21 points, eight rebounds and four blocks.
UMKC (3-6, 0-1) will return to action on Saturday night against IPFW beginning at 7 p.m.
