Macomb, Ill.
-- The UMKC men's basketball team dropped a 72-69 Summit League contest at Western Illinois on Friday night at Western Hall. The Kangaroos spotted the Leathernecks a
20-point lead early in the game before fighting back to within one midway through
the second half. The squad, however,
couldn't get over the hump as it fell by three points to drop its fourth
straight decision.
UMKC jumped out to the 2-0 advantage in the contest, but
that was its only score in the first seven minutes as the Leathernecks jumped
out to a 13-2 lead. WIU then continued
making everything it threw up ? 12-of-16 to start the game ? to build a 29-9
advantage at the 8:40 mark.
The Kangaroos awoke with seven unanswered points to pull to
within 13 (29-16), but Western Illinois used a James Granstra dunk and a David
Nurse three to stretch its lead back to 18 points with 3:43 to go in the half.
UMKC then scored six of the final eight points to get to within
12 at 34-22, but the Leathernecks hit the last field goal to take a 36-22 lead
into the locker room. WIU made 15-of-25
field goal attempts to shoot 60 percent in the first half, while holding the
Kangaroos to 30.8 percent on an 8-of-26 effort from the floor.
The two teams traded field goals over the first four minutes
of the second half, as WIU led 41-30 with 16:16 remaining. UMKC then got back into the contest with a
12-2 run over a four minute span to make the score 43-42.
Latreze Mushatt opened the run with a three-pointer before
Spencer Johnson and Dane Brumagin had back-to-back jumpers to cut the deficit
to four at 41-37. After WIU went back up
six, Johnson and Reggie Hamilton connected on a pair of jumpers to pull UMKC to
within two. Johnson then hit one of two
from the charity stripe to make the score 43-42 with 11:13 remaining.
UMKC had a pair of chances to tie the game from the charity
stripe, but it missed three of four attempts.
The Leathernecks then used the misses to their advantage, as they used a
17-7 run to push the lead to 60-49 with 2:57 remaining.
The Kangaroos wouldn't quit fighting as they scored seven of
nine points to get to within four at 62-58 with 1:47 left in the contest. Hamilton
connected on six free throws and Fred Ford made a long ball during the spurt.
UMKC managed to cut the deficit to a single possession three
times in the final minute by playing the fouling game. WIU, however, made seven-of-nine free throws
to claim the 71-68 decision.
The Kangaroos shot .404 (21-52) from the floor, but just
.176 (3-17) from long range. WIU,
meanwhile, shot .522 (24-46) from the field and .538 (7-13) from three-point
land. UMKC, however, won the battle on
the boards, 35-26.
Three Kangaroo players finished the game in double
figures. Brumagin and Ford led the way
with 15 points apiece, while Hamilton
added 13 in the contest. Mushatt,
meanwhile, led all players with 11 rebounds.
Dubois and guard Josh Rivers paced the Leathernecks, as they
scored 21 points apiece in the game.
UMKC (5-12, 1-3) will return to Kansas
City for its next three contests beginning with a Jan. 10 match-up
against Southern Utah.
