Chatmon's Double-Double Not Enough As 'Roos Fall to Huskies, 63-61

A running three-point attempt at the buzzer by the 'Roos missed short on Tuesday night as Kansas City men's basketball fell to Houston Baptist by a 63-61 margin. Junior center Fred Chatmon hit a free throw with 1:11 left to give the 'Roos a 61-60 advantage, but three made charities in the final 31 seconds gave the win to the Huskies.

The 'Roos (6-15) got a huge night from Chatmon, who recorded a career-high 17 rebounds to go with 10 points, his third double-double of the year, but it wasn't enough as HBU (5-14) forward Art Bernardi tallied 25 points, eight rebounds and five steals. The loss was the eighth straight for UMKC at home, while HBU snapped an eight-game skid.

Kansas City led for most of the game, and pulled out of a tie at the 13:55 mark of the first half with a 6-0 run. The 'Roos stretched that lead to as many as nine on three occasions during the period, with the latest coming on a layup by junior Nelson Kirksey with 1:53 left in the half.

The Huskies finished the half on a 5-0 run though, getting two steals and converting both to fastbreak layups in the final 1:03. The rally closed the gap to 35-31 in favor of the 'Roos at the half. Kansas City went 5-of-10 from three and 47 percent in the half, while HBU shot 42 percent and hit 3-of-7 from three. Kirksey and Estan Tyler each had nine to pace UMKC.

The second stanza saw the 'Roos come out strong though, and went up by 11 on a three from Thomas Staton with 17:27 on the clock. The Huskies got it down to six a few minutes later, but another UMKC run pushed it back to 11 with 13:59 left.

Slowly, the Huskies chipped away. They held Kansas City to only one bucket from the 11 minute mark until 4:48 was on the clock. During that span, HBU out-scored UMKC 13-2 and took its first lead of the night at 58-56 with 5:15 to play.

UMKC regained the lead at 61-60 with 1:11 to play, but two Bernardi free throws with 31 seconds left gave it back to HBU, followed by a stop from the Huskies defense, forcing Kansas City to foul with five seconds left. Houston Baptist hit one of the free throws, and UMKC raced to the other end of the floor for the game-winning attempt, but Tyler's running three was off the mark at the buzzer.

Also in double-figures outside of Chatmon was Kirksey with 14 and Staton with 12. Kansas City was held to 31 percent in the final half, while HBU hit 48 percent. The Huskies scored 26 points off Kansas City turnovers as well, while UMKC out-scored HBU by 12 in the paint.

Kansas City will get back into conference play on Saturday as Omaha comes to town for a 5:15 p.m. contest, kicking off the second round of Summit League action.