Kansas City
Central Arkansas
'Roos Shoot Their Way To A 78-67 Victory Over Central Arkansas
12/19/2009 10:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Kansas City, Mo. -- The UMKC men's basketball team won its second straight game as it downed Central Arkansas, 78-67, on Saturday night at the Swinney Recreation Center. Four 'Roo players finished in double figures with sophomore Trey McKinney-Jones leading the way with a career-high 21 points.
McKinney-Jones connected on 6-of-9 shot attempts to go along with a perfect 7-of-7 night from the charity stripe en route to his career-best performance. Junior Jay Couisnard finished with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting to go along with a career-high seven assists, while Spencer Johnson and Bakari Lewis both chipped in 13 for the squad. Johnson also paced the team with eight boards.
The 'Roos used a strong shooting first half, as it connected on 7-of 12 three-point attempts to build a 41-27 halftime lead. After leading by a point at 9-8 through the first six minutes, UMKC got long balls from Michael Gholston, Jr. and Johnson in an 11-4 run to take a 20-12 advantage.
After UCA cut the deficit to five points (24-19), McKinney-Jones' easy lay-up jump started a 17-5 UMKC run. During the spurt, the 'Roos drained long balls on three consecutive possessions, which included a pair of treys by Couisnard. A Fred Chatmon free throw with 59 seconds to go in the half capped the run and put the 'Roos up 41-24, but the Bears got a three-point play from Mitch Rueter in the closing seconds, making the score 41-27 at the break.
Coming out of the locker room, McKinney-Jones scored five of the first seven points, as the 'Roos matched their biggest lead at 17 (46-29) at the 16:46 mark. UCA, however, continued battling, as it managed to cut the deficit to 10 (52-42) with 12:08 remaining.
UMKC stretched its advantage back to 17 at the 9:58 mark following a pair of Johnson free throws, but UCA reeled off seven unanswered points to pull to within 10 (60-50) a second time with 7:26 to play. The 'Roos then kept the margin in double digits until the 2:08 mark when Rueter drilled a three to make the score 68-60.
Couisnard immediately answered with an old-fashioned three-point play to put UMKC back up 11 (71-60), but Rueter managed to get UCA within eight a second time with a three-pointer with 43 seconds left. Couisnard again had an answer, however, as he put an exclamation point on the win with a authoritative dunk to send the 'Roos to the 11 point victory.
UMKC shot .542 (26-48) from the floor, .533 (8-15) from long range and .750 (18-24) from the charity stripe, while UCA finished with a .471 (24-51) field goal percentage and a .417 (5-12) mark from three-point land. The Bears, however, won the battle on the boards, 31-30.
Rueter led a group of three Bear players in double digits, as he finished with 26 points and 11 boards.
UMKC (6-4) will return to action on Tuesday night at Saint Louis.
