Tulsa, Okla. – The UMKC men’s basketball team had
its season come to a close with a close 69-65 loss to IUPUI in the
quarterfinals of the Summit League Championships on Saturday night at the John
Q. Hammons Arena at the UMAC. The
Kangaroos had the second seeded Jaguars on the ropes, as the game was tied with
one minute remaining, but IUPUI made four free throws down the stretch to
advance on to Monday’s semifinals.
The Jaguars jumped out to an 11-5 lead through the first
four minutes of the contest, before UMKC got back-to-back field goals by Tim
Blackwell to climb to within a point at 13-12 with 11:28 remaining.
After IUPUI pushed its advantage back to six points (18-12),
the Kangaroos responded with a 12-0 run to build a 24-18 advantage. Freshman Reggie Hamilton opened the run with
a three-pointer and his steal and lay-up gave UMKC the 18-17 lead. Blackwell then connected on a three pointer
before Brian Gettinger and Dane Brumagin followed with back-to-back jumpers to
put the Kangaroos up 24-18 with 6:11 to go in the half.
The Jaguars quickly battled back to tie the game at 24, and
the team then scored 12 of the final 19 points to take a 36-31 advantage into
the locker room. IUPUI finished with a
50 percent (13-26) field goal percentage to UMKC’s .375 (12-32) in the opening
20 minutes.
IUPUI’s George Hill scored the first five points of the
second half to push the Jags lead to 10 at 41-31. After back-to-back field goals by Jeremiah
Hartsock and Brumagin cut the margin to six (41-35), IUPUI stretched its lead
to a game-high 12 points (48-36) with 16:23 remaining.
The Kangaroos wouldn’t quit fighting, as they responded with
an 11-2 run to climb to within three at 50-47.
Blackwell, Brumagin and Spencer Johnson all connected on three-pointers
to key the spurt.
IUPUI answered with an 11-5 run to build its advantage to
nine points at 61-52 with 6:29 remaining, but again, the UMKC wouldn’t back
down. Hamilton brought the Kangaroos back, as he
scored eight straight points to cut the margin to one (61-60) with 3:30
remaining.
After a Hill free throw put the Jags up two, Brumagin’s
lay-up at the 2:29 mark evened the game at 62.
After an empty possession on both end of the court, Austin Montgomery
hit a three-pointer to put the Jags up three, but Blackwell answered on the
ensuing possession to even the game for the fourth time at 65.
On the next possession, UMKC got its hand on the ball, and a
scramble ensued. In the shuffle,
Brumagin was called for a foul to put Hill on the charity stripe, and he knocked
down both free throws to give IUPUI the two point lead (67-65).
UMKC came up empty on its next possession, but it had
another opportunity to tie the game after Hill missed both of his free throws
with 14 seconds remaining. The
Kangaroos, however, couldn’t get off a shot, and Hill then made two free throws
with two seconds left to ice the 69-65 win.
UMKC finished with a .407 (24-59) field goal percentage and
a .360 (9-25) mark from long range.
IUPUI, meanwhile, shot .449 (22-49) from the floor and .308 (4-13) from
three-point land. The Jags also won the
battle on the boards, 38-32, in the contest.
The Kangaroos finished with three players in double figures
in the game. Blackwell led the team with
19 points on 7-of-13 shooting, while Brumagin added 16 on a 7-of-12 night from
the floor. Hamilton had an all-around exceptional game,
as he had 14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
Four Jaguar players, meanwhile, finished in double
figures. Montgomery led the squad with a double-double
with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
UMKC closes the 2007-08 season with a 11-21 overall
record.
Courtesy: UMKC Athletics
