Kansas City
6-11,2-2Summit League
Oral Roberts
13-3,4-0Summit League
Roos Fall to Golden Eagles on Last Second Buzzer Beater
1/7/2023 10:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Kansas City battled back from six points down to tie the game up late, but a half court shot put ORU on top
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Behind four double-digit scorers, Kansas City Men's Basketball (6-11, 2-2 Summit) took the Summit League preseason favorites to the wire before falling to Oral Roberts (13-3, 4-0 Summit), 74-71. RayQuawndis Mitchell led the Roos with 23 points, three assists and two steals, playing over 37 minutes of game time.
Kansas City took a seven-point edge into halftime, shooting 50% from the field and from three in the first stanza. The second half was back-and-forth, but Oral Roberts claimed a six-point lead going into the under-four timeout. Mitchell scored eight points in the span of 90 seconds and Shemarri Allen knocked down a game-tying three-pointer with 2.8 seconds remaining, but a half-court heave by ORU's Max Abmas found nylon and gave the Golden Eagles the victory.
The Roos had one of their most balanced scoring efforts of the year, with Allen (11 points), Promise C. Idiaru (11) and Allen David Mukeba Jr. (10) joining Mitchell in double-digits. Mukeba added a team-high eight rebounds.
KEY MOMENTS
- 1H - 19:01 / 4-0 | Jeff Ngandu found Mukeba for a slam on the first possession of the game, and then scored one himself to get the Roos off to a quick start.
- 1H - 10:14 / 17-11 | ORU rallied to claim a five-point lead, but an 11-point Kansas City run, capped by a layup from Allen, gave the Roos a lead that they would maintain for the rest of the half.
- 1H - 6:44 / 27-15 | Babacar Diallo cleaned up a miss by Ngandu and tipped it back in, putting the finishing touches on a 21-4 run by the Roos.
- 1H - 2:11 / 32-25 | With the Golden Eagles threatening, Idiaru knocked down his second triple of the game, cementing the Roos' lead going into the half.
- 2H - 13:20 / 46-42 | ORU drew within one early in the half, but Idiaru hit his third three of the game, giving him 11 points total.
- 2H - 8:12 / 52-51 | The Golden Eagles took the lead for a brief period of time, but Mukeba found a mismatch and went in for an easy basket.
- 2H - 1:35 / 66-65 | Oral Roberts took a six-point lead into the final media timeout, but Mitchell stepped up for KC. He drained a long-range three-pointer, and after an ORU turnover, drove to the basket for a layup that brought the Roos back within a point.
- 2H - 0:02 / 71-71 | After a pair of missed ORU free throws gave the Roos a chance to tie the game, Shemarri Allen took advantage, pulling up for a game-tying three with just under three seconds remaining. However, Abmas's last second heroics would claim the victory for the Golden Eagles.
2H | @shemarriallen23 CLUTCH GENE ON 10000000000000000000000 pic.twitter.com/e3W8o0hOun
— Kansas City Men's Basketball (@KCRoosMBB) January 8, 2023
STATS TO NOTE
- With his 23-point performance tonight, Mitchell has scored 20-plus in six games this season. This was just the second time the Roos have lost when he reaches the 20-point threshold.
- Idiaru, who entered the game with a 1-of-13 three-point shooting clip, went 3-of-5 from three tonight and scored a career-high 11 points.
- Foul trouble kept Allen on the bench for much of the second half, finishing with 28:14 of playing time, his second-fewest minutes this season against Division One competition.
- Kansas City dished 15 assists, reaching the double-digit mark for the fourth time in five games. This comes after reaching that mark just once in the previous six games.
- The Roos finished 10-of-21 from three, good for a 47.6% clip. That is the team's second-highest three-point makes and percentage on the year, and the highest against Division One competition.
- KC made just five free throws on the night, tied for a season-low and nine below its season average.
COACH MARVIN MENZIES, QUOTED
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"It was a tough battle. We had a few miscues defensively, but they're the number one ranked team in the conference for a reason, and they showed it down the stretch."
"We gave those guys a run for their money, I think we earned a little respect today. Not just from (ORU), but from the conference. That's one of our core values is earning some respect in Kansas City, nationally and beyond."
UP NEXT
The Roos are back home next week for the first time since Dec. 19, taking on St. Thomas in the Swinney Center at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
