Kangaroos better the second time around, still fall at Oral Roberts 72-64

By: Elyssa Brogdon

Posted: 2/25/08

Though it is a rare thing for sure, there was something to be said for youth over experience last Thursday night in Tulsa, Okla.

While UMKC did not muster up a win against Oral Roberts University (ORU), the game turned out to be one for the record books.

Thursday night UMKC (9-19, 4-11 Summit) battled the Summit League's top seed ORU (19-7,?14-1 Summit)?at the?Mabee Center in Tulsa, Okla., and fell 72-64.

The leadership?of UMKC senior guard?Tim Blackwell and the heart and determination of the four greenest players on the squad seemed to give the Summit League leaders all they could handle, and maybe a little more.

It was only four weeks ago when the?Golden?Eagles dominated in a 75-47 victory over the Roos.

The?Kangaroos came to the court more than ready for round two against ORU.

Blackwell led the team with 10 points by halftime, followed by freshman guard Reggie Hamilton's eight. The Roos shot 42.3 percent from the field while the Golden Eagles hit at a 48-percent clip.

UMKC junior forward Brian Gettinger started the game with a three-point basket and gave UMKC a head start; this would be UMKC's only lead of the night.

ORU?quickly caught up and passed the Kangaroos on the scoreboard with a 7-0 run.

The Golden Eagles made the margin 12, when Hamilton made a three-point basket that offered some momentum to the squad. Between Hamilton and freshman forward James Humphrey, the Roos made an 8-2 run with four minutes left until halftime.

Then, with just seconds left in the half, Blackwell shot a three-pointer and the Roos ended the first half with only a three-point separation from the Golden Eagles, 32-29.

"That was the one thing," said head coach Matt Brown on 810 AM WHB radio following the game. "Win or lose, we were going to compete. That didn't happen the last time."

After the intermission, the Kangaroos returned to the court where the Golden Eagles were ready and waiting.

UMKC increased its shooting average in the second half to 48.1 percent.

In the second half Hamilton became UMKC's point leader for the game scoring 22 points, a career high. Blackwell followed with 14 total points in the game.

Blackwell also eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau, something only seven other athletes have been able to do in UMKC's history.

Only 20 seconds into the second half, senior Jeremiah Hartsock's layup closed the scoring gap to within one point, but ORU then produced a 9-3 run that seemed to send the Roos reeling.

UMKC's propensity to foul, picking up 12 in each half, seemed to aid in their demise.

With little more than eight minutes remaining, the Kangaroos found themselves in the penalty phase and just two minutes later ORU inherited a double bonus at the charity stripe. Eight of ORU's 40 points in the second half were directly due to Roo fouls.

But the Kangaroos continued to put up a fight as they tried to match the Golden Eagles blow by blow and point by point.

"We gave everything we had tonight," Brown said. "We had a chance to make a shot or two down the stretch. I thought we had some pretty good looks. For some reason they just didn't go into the hoop."

The Roos kept their guards up to the last minute where Hamilton and junior forward Kenny Simms accumulated five more points.

ebrogdon@unews.com