Kansas City
Drake
Kangaroos Rally, Take Out Drake on the Road, 79-73
11/21/2015 10:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball
(Des Moines, Iowa) - UMKC rebounded on Saturday night on the road, using an efficient offensive performance to defeat Drake by a 79-73 margin, the second straight season the 'Roos have defeated a Missouri Valley Conference school.
“We took a huge step tonight,” Head Coach Kareem Richardson said. “I thought the guys did a wonderful job competing. Our offense carried us in the first half, and the second half we really took care of the ball with only two turnovers.”
The 'Roos (2-2) and Bulldogs (1-2) came out firing in the opening half, with both shooting 52 percent. The lead changed six times in the period, with the last one coming from the Bulldogs with 5:57 on the clock to go up 27-26. They would stretch their lead to as many as 10 with 2:19 remaining, but that is when the 'Roos fought back. UMKC went without a field goal for four minutes, but used a quick 6-0 run sparked by a Kyle Steward bucket.
The Bulldogs went into the break with a 41-37 lead, getting 13 points from leading scorer Reed Timmer, while UMKC got points from eight different players, paced by Darius Austin and Broderick Newbill with six each. The 'Roos did turn it over nine times though, while forcing seven DU miscues.
The second stanza saw UMKC come out quick, scoring an 8-1 run keyed by a pair of threes from LaVell Boyd, giving the 'Roos a 45-42 lead. The two squads went back and forth until the 10 minute mark when the 'Roos started to gain control.
A thunderous tip-dunk by senior Thaddeus Smith over a 7-foot player from DU put the 'Roos on top for good. Another three by Boyd with 7:14 on the clock made it a 66-59 UMKC lead. The 'Roos would stretch it to seven again on a Dashawn King three with 6:18 to play, and Drake could only get to within four after that. King scored nine of his career-high 14 points in the second half, including a breakaway high-flying dunk.
“(Dashawn) did a wonderful job. He is a hard guy to keep in front, there are not many guys that can keep him in front when he is in attack mode like tonight.” Richardson said.
UMKC made it a 10 point game with 43 seconds left on a Martez Harrison free throw, its largest lead of the night, and closed it out from there.
In the second half, UMKC out-scored Drake 22-6 in points in the paint. It also had a 10-1 scoring advantage in points off turnovers. The 'Roos also held the Bulldogs to only 36 percent shooting in the second half. On the night, UMKC scored 40 points in the paint, while shooting 51 percent from the floor.
Boyd led the 'Roos with 16 points, while King had 14, Harrison scored 13, and Austin put up 10. Shayok Shayok led the 'Roos rebounding effort with eight.
UMKC will return home for a three-game road swing, starting on Wednesday night with Lincoln coming to town for a 7:05 p.m. tipoff at Municipal Auditorium.
