Men's Basketball - Roos finish a rough season

UMKC vs. IPFW

The UMKC Kangaroos fought hard and proud in their next-to-last game of the season, but it was not meant to be.

UMKC lost to Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) 76-71.

Though the Roos held the lead on several occasions, they were unable to seal-the-deal Thursday evening at the Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind.

It looked good off the top for the Roos. They created a quick six-point spread with a jumper by sophomore forward Spencer Johnson and four points secured by freshman guard Dustin Dibble.

Dibble walked away from the game with a career-high 15 points.

The IPFW Mastodons caught up to the Roos with 14:32 left in the half, tying the game at 11. For the rest of the half, it was anyone's game. The lead flipped back and forth, with neither team taking a clear advantage.

Freshman forward Latreze Mushatt tried to open up the point spread with a three-point shot, but IPFW came back with a 14-2 run, bringing the score to 37-31 with just above two-minute left in the first half.

In the closing 120 seconds, the Roos put on an extra push. Dibble dropped a three-pointer and senior forward Dane Brumagin put two free throws through the cylinder, ending the half even up at 37.

In the second half, the Roos continued their push with another six points. Dibble nailed four and sophomore guard Bakari Lewis added a nice jumper.

But with 11 minutes to play and the Roos down by two, the Mastodon's guard, Ben Botts began lighting it up, draining one three-point shot after another, giving his team a 62-56 lead over the Roos.

The Roos didn't give up. Led by Mushatt (five points), UMKC brought the score within one basket with 1:20 left to play. But that was as close as the Roos would come.

Lewis made a sweet three-pointer for the Roos with 20 seconds of play left, bringing the score to 72-69. IPFW, however, showing no mercy, made its last four free throws of the game making the final tally 76-71.

Lewis led the Roos in scoring with 17 points, and Dibble and Mushatt were close behind him with 15 and 14 points respectively.

UMKC vs. Oakland

The Roos capped off their '08-'09 season at the Athletic Recreation Center O'Rena this past Saturday in Oakland.

Senior forward Dane Brumagin finished his UMKC career playing his 118th game. Brumagin has scored 1,374 points for the Roos over his four year career.

Brumagin finished his 57th game in the double digits with 14 points. But despite Brumagin's best efforts, it wasn't enough to take a win and the Roos lost 100-88 against the Oakland Grizzlies.

Oakland came out strong, gaining a swift 25-12 lead over the Roos. Even with a nice jumper by sophomore guard Bakari Lewis and a couple dropped free throws by sophomore forward James Humphrey, the Roos were unable to commit to a run.

The Grizzlies swept into a 20-point lead at the 7:29 mark, with the score at 38-18.

Finally, the Roos responded with two back-to-back long-range shots by sophomore forward Spencer Johnson and another shot from behind the arch from freshman forward Femi Akinpentide. Johnson dropped another three-point shot at the end of the Roos' 18-4 run. It put the score within 6 (42-36).

Johnson is a player who the Roos look forward to seeing good things from in the future.

He's a force beneath the basket and from long range. He owned eight rebounds in the game and saw a career-high 24 points.

Johnson had a nice block right after the break, setting the pace for UMKC. Humphrey gained authority in an and-1 dunk during a personal five-point run.

But with all of UMKC's efforts in the second half, it was not enough to overcome the 12-point deficit from the first half.

In a high-scoring game, each team scored 50 points in the second half.

UMKC finished the 2008-09 season with a 7-24 overall record and a 3-15 mark in Summit League play.

kbryce@unews.com