Rochester, Mich. --
The UMKC men's basketball team closed out its season with a 100-88 loss at Oakland on Saturday night
at the Athletics Recreation Center O'Rena.
Senior Dane Brumagin closed out his career with a gutsy 14-point outing
in his 118th career game. The
figure is a new UMKC record for most career games played.
Oakland came out on fire from long range to start
the game, as it made 8-of-11 shots, four of which were long balls, to build a
25-12 lead through the first eight minutes of the contest. The Grizzlies then proceeded to build their
advantage to 20 points (38-18) at the 7:25 mark, as guard Erik Kangas went off
for 20 points through the first 12 minutes of action.
Down 20, the
Kangaroos got back into the game with an 18-4 run over a five minute span to
pull to within six points. Sophomore
Spencer Johnson opened the spurt with back-to-back three pointers and his third
long ball at the 2:12 mark made the score 42-36.
Oakland answered by scoring eight of the final 10
points of the half to take a 50-38 advantage into the locker room. Kangas finished with a total of 22 first half
points, as he connected on 5-of-9 shots from long range.
UMKC started the
second half strong as it scored seven of the first nine points to cut the
deficit to seven. Sophomore James Humphrey
scored five straight during the spurt, which included a three-point play that
made the score 52-45 with 17:35 left.
The Golden Grizzlies
responded with a 7-2 run to push their lead back to 12 at 59-47 with 14:34
remaining. Oakland then maintained its double digit lead
until the five minute mark when a pair of Johnson free throws cut the margin to
81-72 with 5:39 remaining.
UMKC kept fighting
as a Dane Brumagin jumper from the corner with around two minutes to play
pulled the ?Roos to within seven at 89-82.
Oakland,
however, hit four straight free throws to stretch the margin back to 11 before
going on to the 100-88 victory.
UMKC shot 50 percent
(32-64) from the floor and .278 (5-18) from long range in the contest, while OU
finished with a .549 (28-51) field goal percentage, a .412 (7-17) mark from the
distance and a .804 (37-46) percentage from the free throw line. The ?Roos won the battle on the glass, 34-27,
and they went a perfect 19-of-19 from the charity stripe.
Johnson led a group
of four UMKC players in double digits, as he finished with a career-high 24
points on a 9-of-15 night from the field.
The forward made four long balls in the game and also grabbed eight
boards. Sophomore Bakari Lewis finished
with 16 and four assists and Humphrey scored 13 to go along with six rebounds.
Brumagin closed out
his Kangaroo career by making 4-of-11 shot attempts en route to his 14 points
despite hobbling through his 22 minutes with is sore Achilles. The forward concludes his playing days in
Blue and Gold with 1,374 points, which is sixth all-time in the school record
books, and a total of 57 games in double figures.
Kangas led a group
of three OU players in double figures, as he finished with 30 points on 6-of-16
shooting to go along with a 13-of-13 night from the free throw line. Benson, meanwhile, made 10-of-15 shots en
route to a career-best 28 points.
UMKC finishes the 2008-09
season with a 7-24 overall record and a 3-15 mark in Summit League play.
