Kansas City
SIU Edwardsville
'Roos Notch Seventh Win In 63-54 Victory At SIUE
12/28/2009 10:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Edwardsville, Ill. -- The UMKC men's basketball team picked up its seventh win of the season with a 63-54 victory at SIU Edwardsville on Monday night at the Vadalabene Center. Three 'Roo players finished in double figures with Jay Couisnard and Trey McKinney-Jones pacing the team with 14 points apiece.
Couisnard made 2-of-9 shot attempts and 9-of-13 free throws en route to his 14-point outing. The forward also tied career-highs with eight boards and five steals. McKinney-Jones' 14 points came on 5-of-10 shooting and the guard also had a team-high five assists. Freshman Kirk Korver was the final 'Roo in double digits, finishing with 11 points with a pair of long balls.
SIUE came out of the gates quickly as it scored the first nine points of the game. The 'Roos, however, answered with eight unanswered points behind five from Couisnard to pull to within a point before eventually tying the game at 13 on a Korver three-point play at the 10:20 mark.
In a blink of an eye, the Cougars hit for 10 straight points to build a 23-13 lead with 8:22 remaining in the half. McKinney-Jones ended the run with a floater at the 7:58 mark and the bucket ignited a 14-3 run that saw UMKC take its first lead of the game at 27-26.
After SIUE took a 29-27 lead into the break, the Cougars maintained their advantage through the first four minutes of the second half. A Couisnard free throw then opened a 14-2 Kangaroo run that saw the squad turn a three point deficit (33-36) into a 47-38 lead. LaTreze Mushatt scored five straight points during the spurt, and Alex Bazzell knocked down two free throws at the 9:47 mark to cap the run.
The Cougars wouldn't go away, however, as they used a 7-1 spurt of their own to pull to within three points (48-45) with 5:29 remaining. UMKC weathered the storm as it scored the next five points, four by McKinney-Jones, to push its advantage back to eight points (53-45) with 3:26 to play.
SIUE had one final push left in its tank, as it closed the gap to three points (55-52) a second time with 54 seconds remaining courtesy of a Cody Rincker three-pointer. The 'Roos, however, closed out the victory by hitting all six of their free throws in the final minute to run out nine point winners.
UMKC shot .381 (16-42) from the floor and .333 (4-12) from long range, while SIUE finished with a .407 (22-54) field goal percentage and a .222 (4-18) mark from three-point land. The 'Roos held a big advantage at the free throw line, making 27-of-35 attempts, while the Cougars made just 6-of-11 from the charity stripe.
Three SIUE players finished in double figures in the contest with Aamir McCleary pacing the squad with 11 points and seven rebounds.
UMKC (7-5) will return to action on Wednesday night when it closes out the non-league portion of its schedule at Missouri.
