Roos send Grizzlies back into hibernation

Men's Basketball

By: Dan Stroud

Posted: 2/19/07

Playing bonus period basketball for the third straight home game, the University of Missouri-Kansas City took out the Oakland University Golden Grizzlies 80-76.

Oakland, currently sitting in second place in Mid-Continent Conference play, lost for just the third time. It has eight league wins.

UMKC senior forward Dee Ayuba was the team's star in regulation. He scored the last 10 points for the Kangaroos in the final three minutes of action to pull even, 64-64, with the Golden Grizzlies as time expired.

Sophomore forward Brian Gettinger then took over the extra period, scoring 12 of his Division I career best 18 points. Adding 10 rebounds to his effort gave Gettinger his first career double-double as well.

"I felt like I was getting open every time off the screen thanks to my teammates during the game," said Ayuba. "Every time I caught it [ball] I felt that I could score or find someone else open."

The game stayed close for much of the first half with neither team able to dominate the other. Though the Kangaroos shot just 28.6 percent in the first half, the team still managed to run into the locker room at intermission trailing 23-31 to a Golden Grizzly team that was shooting at a 50 percent clip.

Oakland lumbered out to a 14-point lead in the opening minutes of the second half, leading 40-26 on the lay-up by senior center/linebacker Shawn Hopes. The burly front court player, standing at 6 feet 7 inches and listed at a conservative 275 pounds, was a force the Roos would have trouble containing all evening. He would score 20 points and lead all Oakland players on the night.

UMKC Head Coach Rich Zvosec talked about the physical play Oakland has always brought to the Mid-Con table. He sees the Golden Grizzlies as a reflection of the hard-nosed tendencies of their former Toledo football player, head basketball coach Greg Kampe.

"I thought in the first half we backed away from some of that physicality, "said Zvosec. "In the second half, we didn't."

As the game moved inside the six-minute mark, UMKC - led by strong play from Day and freshman guard Dominique Johnson in the backcourt and Ayuba on the glass - made its move back into the game.

Senior forward Blake Crawford hit three of four shots from the charity stripe to pull the Kangaroos to within three points, 52-55, and the throw-down was on.

"It seems like we always have to dig a hole for ourselves to come out of," said senior guard Quinton Day. "It shows grit and that we can do things right."

When the bonus period began, Gettinger took over hitting a pair of three-point shots, a lay-up for two, a pair of free throws, and finally, a slam dunk to put the game away. The performance for Gettinger in that period mirrored Ayuba's dominance late in regulation.

"The whole team was really moving the ball well," said Gettinger. "Once we got the ball in the post, we were doing real well in the perimeter."

Three games remain in the conference regular season and Coach Zvosec was pleased with the team's intensity with the Mid-Con tourney looming on the horizon.

"Thru all of the adversity, thru some close losses, [the Kangaroos] came to work every day … and battled," said Zvosec. "It's very satisfying to get this win tonight for them. To know that you can win a close game is important."

dstroud@unews.com