Kansas City
11-13,7-7Summit League
North Dakota State University
14-11,11-5Summit League
Roos' Comeback Falls Just Short Against NDSU
3/7/2021 11:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Josiah Allick posted 23 points and 10 rebounds in the loss while Brandon McKissic added 13
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - A furious second half comeback fell just short for Kansas City (11-13) as it fell to third-seeded North Dakota State (14-11), 69-65 in the Summit League Quarterfinals.
"Credit North Dakota State, they played like the back-to-back champions that they are," Head Coach Billy Donlon said. "This will be a very valuable lesson for our players moving forward."
The first 26 minutes went entirely the Bison's way. NDSU shot 45.5% in the first half, holding the Roos to 30% shooting. The Roos' deficit was 38-22 going into the half, and NDSU expanded the lead to 22 with 14:15 remaining.
"Sometimes basketball is a make-or-miss game," Donlon said. "We didn't guard very well, that's a credit to them, but we shouldn't have had 22 points going into halftime."
At exactly the 14-minute mark, Devon House knocked down a three to cut the Bison lead to 19, and the Roos began chipping away.
"I didn't have any doubt at halftime that we would come out and go on a run," Donlon said.
Josiah Allick went into takeover mode, scoring 15 of the Roos' 17 points amidst a 16-6 run. Allick finished the night with a game-high 23 points and 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the year. It was the eighth double-double by a Roo in the conference tournament in program history, and the first since 2017.
"I played with a different fire in the second half," Allick said. "All of our guys have a lot of trust in me, and if I want a shot, they'll get me in the position to get it. I have the easy job of shooting it."
At the under-four media timeout, the Roos had the deficit cut to eight. Brandon McKissic came down and grabbed an offensive rebound off of his own missed three, scoring at the rim to cut it to six. Marvin Nesbitt Jr. and McKissic scored a pair of buckets and the Roos held the Bison to 2-of-4 shooting from the line, and suddenly the lead was down to four.
On the ensuing possession, Franck Kamgain drove the ball and dumped it off to Nesbitt Jr. in the lane. Nesbitt put a power dribble down, rose above the defense and put a hook shot into the bucket to cut the deficit to two with just 49 seconds remaining.
Kansas City forced a North Dakota State turnover with 22 seconds left, opening an opportunity for the Roos to tie the game. With time running down on the clock, McKissic drove into the lane from the right side of the basket, drawing three Bison defenders in his path. He put up a layup, but could not get it to go, and NDSU made a pair of free throws to ice the game.
"I told our guys that we had to try to win every media timeout (in the second half), and after the first one, we did that," Donlon said. "That gave us a chance to tie the game late."
Kansas City's season comes to a close with an 11-13 record in Donlon's second year at the helm. Through the adversity of the season, the squad came together as a family and fought until the final buzzer.
"This team really stuck together as a family," McKissic said. "We worked hard every day as a family. We had our differences, but at the end of the day we came together as a family. That's what I'm going to miss the most. Those are guys that I would go to war with any day."
