UMKC Hits The Boards, Picks Up Big Road Win At IPFW, 63-59

In only his second game back from injury, Trinity Hall was put in a high-pressure situation on the free throw line with a two-point lead with 14 seconds left. He hit both and helped Kansas City secure a 63-59 road win at Fort Wayne Saturday.

The 'Roos (6-14, 3-5 SL) used a 13-0 advantage in second-chance points while overcoming 17 turnovers in the contest. UMKC also out-rebounded IPFW (9-12, 2-5 SL) by a 30-21 margin. The contest was a defensive battle in the first half and turned into a shootout in the second, but Kansas City got stops when it needed down the stretch to secure the win, its second straight at Fort Wayne.

The contest started in favor of the home team, with IPFW taking an 18-9 advantage with 7:59 on the clock in a slow-moving opening period. Kansas City started heating up from there, taking the margin down to one at 18-17 on a layup by Thomas Staton. The Mastodons answered with two straight buckets, but Kansas City got Estan Tyler rolling from there.

He led the 'Roos to their first lead of the night after scoring back-to-back buckets followed by another deuce from Staton at 24-22, and then answered an IPFW lead change with a buzzer-beating step-back jumper just before the half to make it 26-25 UMKC.

The 'Roos only advantage in the half was from the three-point line, hitting 3-of-7, while IPFW was 0-of-4. The 'Dons also had a 15-13 edge on the glass.

The final half was a shoot-out though, with each team shooting better than 58 percent from the floor, along with 11 lead changes and seven ties. Kansas City's biggest lead was in the opening part of the stanza at six, but from the 17 minute mark until only 14 seconds remained, neither team led by more than three.

The 'Dons were shooting 85 percent through the first 15 minutes of the half, but Kansas City held the home team without a field goal for the final 5:15. With 3:44 left, it was tied at 59, but Fred Chatmon got a layup with 3:25 left to give Kansas City the lead for good.  Neither team would score again until Hall was put on the line with 14 seconds left.

Kansas City was led for the third game in a row by sophomore point guard Estan Tyler with 19 points, while Staton had 14, Hall had 11, and Kirk Korver put up 11. Chatmon led all rebounders with 10 on the night as well.

Kansas City shot 50 percent, while IPFW hit for 51.1 percent, but a 17-6 rebound edge in the second half for UMKC proved to be the difference.

The Kangaroos will go home now after taking 2-of-3 on the road swing. Houston Baptist comes to Swinney Recreation Center on Tuesday night in a non-conference matchup at 7:05. The game will be televised on KSMO-TV in Kansas City.