Kansas City
IPFW
'Roos Drop Summit League Opener, 76-72, To IPFW
12/2/2010 9:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Fort Wayne, Ind. -- The UMKC men's basketball team (4-2) dropped its Summit League opener on Thursday night, 76-72 in overtime, to IPFW (4-2) at the Memorial Coliseum. In the loss, the 'Roos dominated the paint, out-scoring the Mastodons, 26-16 in the squad's first overtime contest since January 17, 2009 against North Dakota State.
Senior Spencer Johnson led the UMKC attack with a team-high 19 points and nine rebounds, while senior Jay Couisnard and freshman Trinity Hall each chipped in 13.
IPFW started the game on fire from outside, knocking down five of its first six three point attempts, taking a 17-11 lead with 10:38 remaining in the first half.
UMKC would answer with some hot shooting of its own with eight straight points on threes from Couisnard and Johnson and a Hall layup, giving the 'Roos back the lead at 19-17.
The 'Dons would recapture the lead with four straight, but back-to-back threes by Johnson and another Hall layup helped the 'Roos to 25-19 lead.
The 'Roos would then limit IPFW to four points over the final 7:40 of the half, while closing the first on a 15-4 run. Dustin Dibble would cap the run with a three from the corner, as the 'Roos took a 34-25 lead into halftime.
In the first, the two teams combined to shoot 12-22 from three point range, including 7-12 for the 'Roos. Johnson led the UMKC charge from behind the arc, burying all three of his attempts en route to a game-high 11 points, while Hall added six points, four rebounds, two blocks and an assist in 12 minutes of play off the bench.
The 'Don would open the second with a 10-3 run that cut the UMKC lead to 37-35, but a 9-2 UMKC run, over the next 4:38, pushed the lead to 46-37 with 11:57 to play in the game.
IPFW would then cut the lead to 48-44 after scoring seven of the next nine points, but the 'Roos would again answer with a Couisnard free throw and a Johnson layup to extend the advantage to 51-44 with 7:39 to play.
A 6-2 IPFW run would cut the 'Roo lead to three at 53-50, but Johnson would answer with his 19th and final points of the contest, pushing the lead to 55-50 before fouling out with 4:27 to play.
After an IPFW three cut the lead to 55-53, a Kamwa free throw would push the lead back to three with 2:10 to play.
The 'Dons would get the next three points to tie the game, before Hall sank a pair from the line with 49.1 seconds remaining to give the 'Roos back the lead at 58-56.
IPFW would tie the contest with a driving layup setting up a final shot attempt for the 'Roos with 36 seconds remaining.
UMKC would put the ball in the hands of Couisnard who passed to Chamberlain at the top of the key, but the jumper was no good and the game moved to overtime.
In overtime, IPFW would capture the first lead with a pair of free throws, but Chamberlain would drill a three from the corner to give the 'Roos back the lead 61-60.
The Mastodons would recapture the lead with the 10 of the next 12 points, to give the them a 70-63 lead with 1:20 left.
Hall would then knock down a pair of free throws and get fouled on a layup to cut the lead to 71-68, before a Chamberlain layup, after an IPFW free throw, trimmed the advantage to 72-70 with 17.2 seconds left.
After another set of IPFW free throws, Chamberlain would again cut the lead to two with a driving layup with 5.8 seconds left.
The 'Dons would then go to the line to extend the lead to four at 76-72 and put the game away.
UMKC ended the contest shooting 36% from behind the arc, with only two second half makes. Kamwa and Hall, meanwhile, each finished with six rebounds for the 'Roos, while Bakari Lewis, Johnson, Couisnard and Kamwa all fouled out.
UMKC will continue Summit League play on Saturday when they travel north to Rochester, Mich., for a 5 p.m. contest with Oakland.
