Kansas City
Youngstown State
Youngstown State Hits Three With Four Seconds Left to Sink 'Roos, 66-63
11/26/2014 9:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball
(Kansas City, Mo.) – The UMKC men's basketball team battled from behind most of the night, but couldn't quite get over the hump, and Youngstown State's Marcus Keene hit a go-ahead three with four seconds left to hand the 'Roos a 66-63 hearbreaking loss.
“The last shot was tough,” Head Coach Kareem Richardson said. “But a lot of things leading up to that, simple things that we scouted extensively, led to easy points. Like I said, the last shot hurts, but there is more to it than just that play.”
The opening half was a sloppy one for the 'Roos (2-4), turning it over 11 times, including an uncharacteristic five from Martez Harrison. The 'Roos also missed five layups in the opening period, albeit contested ones. Many of those misses came on offensive rebounds for the 'Roos, who crashed the glass all night.
The Penguins (4-3) used that to their advantage, and started red-hot from the floor, jumping out to a 21-10 lead by the 10:49 mark. UMKC started to gain its traction a bit after that though, and cut it back down to six with 4:47 to play in the half on a fastbreak layup by Frank Williams. The margin got back to 10, but a three by Deshon Taylor with two seconds left sent it into the break at 36-29 in favor of the Penguins.
The 'Roos came out strong in the second stanza, scoring the first nine points and taking a 38-36 lead, their first advantage since the game's opening minutes. The Penguins were not deterred though, and came back with five straight of their own to take that lead right back, with 16:22 on the clock.
YSU then held the 'Roos without a field goal for five minutes in building its lead back to seven with 11:52 on the clock, before Harrison sparked another Kangaroo run. He scored back-to-back buckets, and UMKC capped its rally to tie the game at 50 on a three-point play from junior center Thaddeus Smith at the 8:43 mark.
Every 'Roo tying bucket was immediately answered though, many of which came from Keene. He broke the game's fifth tie with a three with 2:49 to play, and then answered the next two ties with jumpers, including the game-winning three with four seconds left. On the other side of that was Harrison though, who scored game-tying layups with 52 seconds left and 20 seconds left.
The time was in favor of the Penguins in the end though, as Harrison's desperation three at the buzzer was short of the rim.
Harrison finished the night with 20 points, and made only one second half turnover to lead UMKC, while Reese Holliday had 13 points and eight boards. The 'Roos only had five turnovers as a team in the second half, and pulled down 16 offensive rebounds in the game. UMKC just couldn't quite connect on enough open shots though, shooting only 35 percent, and 4-of-14 from three.
YSU was paced by Keene's 21 points, while Shawn Amiker had 18 points and 11 boards.
UMKC finished the road swing 0-3, dropping all three games by nine points or less.
The 'Roos will host William Jewell for the regular season's first game at Municipal Auditorium on Saturday night at 7:05 p.m.
