Kansas City
Southern Utah
Lewis' Three-Pointer Lifts 'Roos To 53-50 Win Over Southern Utah
1/2/2010 11:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Kansas City, Mo. -- The UMKC men's basketball team won an exciting 53-50 decision over Southern Utah in front of a season-high 5,532 fans on Saturday night at Municipal Auditorium. With the score tied at 50, junior Bakari Lewis drained a three-pointer from the top of the key with 17 seconds remaining to propel the 'Roos to the victory.
Three UMKC players finished in double digits, as LaTreze Mushatt, Spencer Johnson and Jay Couisnard all netted 11 points. Trey McKinney-Jones, meanwhile, paced the team on the glass, pulling down seven rebounds.
The 'Roos jumped out to a 12-8 lead through the first six minutes of the contest. UMKC then went cold, as Southern Utah held it to just one field goal - a Johnson three ball - over a 10-minute stretch as the T-Birds built its advantage to eight (23-15) with 7:11 to go in the half.
Michael Gholston, Jr. rattled home a three pointer at the 4:43 mark to ignite an 8-2 run to close out the half, as the 'Roos grabbed a 26-25 lead at the break.
Coming out of the locker room, UMKC pushed its advantage to five points on a McKinney-Jones lay-up at the 15:38 mark, but SUU fought back to even the game at 34 following six straight points by Davis Baker.
With the score tied at 38 with 10:39 to play, the T-Birds continued feeding the ball to Baker, as the guard scored seven straight SUU points to help the squad take a 45-40 lead with 5:32 to play. The 'Roos kept battling, however, as Lewis and McKinney-Jones connected on jumpers to pull their squad to within one (45-44) with 3:25 to play.
After Baker made 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to put the T-Birds back up two (46-44), the 'Roos evened the game at 46 courtesy of a Johnson tip-in at the 2:34 mark. The two teams then traded buckets, as the score was tied at 50 with 42 second to play.
UMKC chose not to call a timeout, and it paid off for the squad. The 'Roos executed their offense and Lewis capitalized by using a screen at the top of the key to get a wide open look. The guard drained the three pointer with 17 seconds left to put the 'Roos on top.
SUU called a timeout and drew up a play for Baker, but the shot was off the mark as UMKC claimed the tight three-point victory.
The 'Roos won despite shooting a season-low .339 (19-56) from the field and .222 (4-18) from long range. The T-Birds, meanwhile, finished with a .396 (19-48) field goal percentage and a .316 (6-19) mark from three-point land. SUU also won the battle on the boards, but it turned the ball over 20 times, which led to 16 'Roo points.
Baker was the only Thunderbird player in double digits, as he finished with 20 points, all of which came in the second half. The guard was 7-of-11 from the field in the contest.
UMKC (8-6, 2-1) will return to action on Thursday night when it hosts South Dakota State at Municipal Auditorium beginning at 7:05 p.m.
