Kansas City
Texas-Pan American
Broncs Hit Jumper With 0.2 Left to Sink Kangaroos in Season Finale
3/7/2015 7:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball
(Edinburg, Texas) - Texas-Pan American got a big play from its senior, Shaquille Boga, on Saturday afternoon as he hit a step-back 17-foot jumper with 0.2 seconds left to complete a comeback over UMKC, 53-51 in the regular season finale.
“We allowed our (poor) shooting to determine our mood defensively,” Head Coach Kareem Richardson said. “We have been trying to fight that all year. We have to be desperate defensively and we weren't tonight. As far as the shot, it was a heck of a play by a senior on senior night.”
The shooting was the worst from three-point range in the Richardson era (1-of-20, 5 percent). Overall, they shot only 34.6 percent as well, the lowest since January 17. Despite that, UMKC led for 35:43 in the game, while UTPA led for just 53 seconds.
Missouri-Kansas City (13-18, 8-6 WAC) allowed UTPA (10-20, 4-10 WAC) to lead for only 26 seconds in the opening half, jumping out to an early 10-5 lead thanks to more solid play by senior Reese Holliday. He scored 11 points in a tightly contested period. The 'Roos largest lead was only five, while UTPA led only once, 11-10 with 11:27 on the clock.
Holliday helped the 'Roos get that advantage back on the next possession, and capped a 7-1 run with another layup with 8:35 on the clock, making it 17-12. The Broncs fought back to get it down to one, and even tied it with 14 seconds left, but Martez Harrison was fouled with two seconds left shooting a three, and hit two of the free throws to make it 28-26 at the break. Holliday had 11 points at the half.
The 'Roos were slow and steady to start the second half as well, taking its lead to six early on. UTPA came back to tie it at 34, but the 'Roos again answered to make it a 40-36 lead on a Harrison jumper. Each time it looked like UMKC was going to put the Broncs away in the final seven minutes, the 'Roos couldn't make the big blow.
A pair of Holliday free throws with 2:44 left gave UMKC its largest lead at seven, but UTPA finished the game on a 9-0 run to win it. The 'Roos missed shots on three straight possessions, while the Broncs scored on four straight, including a three by Boga to tie it with 1:14 to play, and the shot on its next possession to win it.
UMKC went 0-of-9 from three in the half, and forced only 10 turnovers, after pushing the Broncs into 28 in the first meeting.
Harrison finished with a team-high 16 points for UMKC, while Holliday had 15 points. Thaddeus Smith had a team-best seven rebounds. UTPA out-scored UMKC 17-9 in points off turnovers, while going for an 18-8 advantage in second-chance points, despite having fewer rebounds.
The 'Roos finish with a winning record in league play for the first time since 2005-06. UMKC also tie for second place in the standings, the highest finish since 2004-05.
UMKC will be the No. 2 seed in the WAC Tournament, and will tip off play on Thursday in Las Vegas at Orleans Arena in a rematch against No. 7 seed UTPA at 6:30 CT/4:30 PT.
