Kangaroos give Leathernecks the boot

Men's BasketBall

By: Dan Stroud

Posted: 2/26/07

The University of Missouri-Kansas City men's basketball team won its first road game of the year over Western Illinois University (WIU) in convincing fashion Thursday night, shellacking its Mid-Continent Conference foe 89-54.

It was also the Kangaroos' third straight conference win, as they improved to 6-7 and moved into a three-way tie with Indiana University Purdue University-Indianapolis (IUPUI) and Southern Utah University (SUU) for fourth place in the Mid-Con standings.

"The team is just building on the confidence of the last two games," said UMKC Head Coach Rich Zvosec. "We thought we'd have this type of team through the course of the year. But, it still comes down to making those open shots."

UMKC jumped out to an early 9-1 lead over the Leathernecks. The Roos would never trail, and capitalized on three almost rapid-fire treys from sophomore forward Brian Gettinger, who would finish the night with 15 points and a pair of assists.

WIU responded to the early shooting barrage with a three-point shot from senior guard Troy Okeson and forward Jerryck Owens-Murrey's five points off a pair of field goals and a made free-throw shot.

The Leathernecks pulled to within one point, 8-9, at the 16:27 mark of the opening stanza. This was as close as the Leathernecks would come to the Kangaroos the rest of the game.

The remainder of the first half saw the Kangaroos double the Leathernecks' effort on the court, scoring 36 points to WIU's 18. UMKC rolled into the intermission with a comfortable 45-26 lead.

The second stanza went much the same way as the Kangaroos continued to have their way with the Leathernecks.

Senior forward Dee Ayuba scored 13 of his team-high 16 points in the second half of action. Added to that effort were 15 points dropped in by junior guard Tim Blackwell and a six-assist, nine-point performance by senior guard Quinton Day.

The Kangaroos shot 55.4 percent from the floor on the night including a 58.3 percent tally from the three-point arc. Gettinger, Blackwell, Day, sophomore guard Dane Brumagin and freshman guard Dominique Johnson each sank treys from downtown.

"We came out shooting tonight" Zvosec said. "Being able to go inside to Jeremiah [Hartsock] and Dee and their being able to kick the ball back out for the open shot was a key factor for us."

UMKC sophomore Alex Pledger had the flu and did not see action in the game.

dstroud@unews.com