Kansas City
10-12,2-5Summit League
St. Thomas
16-6,6-1Summit League
Roos Outlasted by Tommies in Sold Out Swinney Center
1/25/2025 10:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball
For the second game in a row, the Roos fell in a one-possession decision
KANSAS CITY - Kansas City Men's Basketball (10-12, 2-5Â Summit) fought tooth-and-nail, but fell just short for the second-straight game against St. Thomas (16-6, 6-1 Summit) this evening, 68-65. The Roos fell behind by as many as 11 points in the first half, battling back to take a late lead and earn a chance for the victory. The Tommies knocked down a pair of big threes, snatching the win away from KC.
Babacar Diallo was the Roos' leading scorer, going for 21 points on 6-of-11 shooting, going 4-off-5 from downtown. He added three rebounds and a team-high three assists in 30 minutes of play. Cameron Faas was the only other Roo to reach double-digits, going for 14 points and knocking down three three-pointers.
KEY MOMENTS | HIGHLIGHTS
- 1H - 13:52 / 15-10 | Davontae Hall went around a screen and pulled up from three-point range to give Kansas City a five-point lead, but the Tommies responded with a 14-point run to take control of the first half.
- 1H - 6:07 / 20-26 | Kasheem Grady II knocked down a big three, putting an end to St. Thomas' 16-2 run.
- 1H - 1:36 / 27-35 | After the Tommies extended their lead to 11 points, the largest of the game, Diallo nailed a triple and KC started chipping away.
- 2H - 15:56 / 38-40 | Coming out of the under-16 media timeout, Hall found Faas on the in-bounds play for a corner three and brought Kansas City as close as it had been since the 12:17 mark of the first half.
- 2H - 10:01 / 47-52 | St. Thomas extended the lead back out to eight points, but another big three from Grady energized the sold-out Swinney Center crowd.
- 2H - 4:30 / 56-55 | Diallo dished to Faas on the wing for a three-pointer that gave the Roos' the lead for the first time since the score was 15-12.
- 2H - 0:03 / 65-66 | As the clock wound down, Diallo hit one final triple to bring KC within a point, but UST hit its free throws and claimed the victory.
STATS TO NOTE
- Diallo's 21-point performance marked a career best, surpassing his 18-point game at Wichita State earlier this year. He has led the Roos' scoring efforts three times this year and five times in his career.
- Melvyn Ebonkoli led the Roos with seven rebounds on the night, his first time reaching that mark since the win over Oral Roberts on Jan. 4. He added six points in 25 minutes of play.
- Kansas City shot 32.2% from the field on the game, but were able to hit 12-of-31 three-point attempts for a 38.7% clip.
POSTGAME INTERVIEW
Head Coach Marvin Menzies
UP NEXT
Kansas City is on the road next week, playing at Denver on Jan. 30.
