Kansas City
Oakland
'Roos Fall In Summit League Quarterfinals To No. 1 Oakland, 85-70
3/6/2010 9:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Sioux Falls, S.D. -- The UMKC men's basketball team had its season come to a close with an 85-70 loss to top-seeded Oakland in the quarterfinals of The Summit League Championship. Three 'Roo players finished in double digits in the defeat with junior Spencer Johnson leading the way with 14 points.
Johnson made 4-of-11 shot attempts, including three long balls, en route to his point total. Sophomore LaTreze Mushatt finished with 13 points and a team-high eight boards, while sophomore Trey McKinney-Jones added 11 on 4-of-7 shooting.
The Grizzlies came out scorching from the field, as they made 8-of-11 shots over the first eight plus minutes to build a 22-13 lead. Once OU cooled off, UMKC closed the gap to two (28-26) with a 13-6 run behind three-pointers by Jay Couisnard and Johnson and a three-point play by McKinney-Jones.
UMKC kept the margin manageable as it trailed by just six (39-33) with 3:26 to go in the half, but Oakland scored six of the final eight points to take a 45-35 advantage into the locker room.
Coming out of the break, the Golden Grizzlies used a 14-5 run over the first six minutes to push its lead to 19 points (59-40). Oakland proceeded to extend its lead to a game-high 22 points (83-61) at the 6:13 mark before the 'Roos closed the gap to 15 points to conclude the game.
UMKC shot .410 (25-61) from the floor and .320 (8-25) from long range, while the Grizzlies finished with a .556 (30-54) field goal percentage and a .421 (8-19) mark from long range. OU also dominated the action on the boards, 46-23.
All five Oakland starters reached double figures in the contest with Larry Wright pacing the team with 16 points. Benson, meanwhile, tallied his 17th double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
The loss ends UMKC's season, as the squad finishes the year with a 12-18 overall record.
