Late Push By 'Roos Not Enough, Grizzlies Hold On 86-74

Kansas City cut a 19-point second half Oakland lead to only four with 58 seconds left, but the Grizzlies went 10-of-10 from the line to seal the win in the final home game for the 'Roos, 86-74.
Kansas City (7-21, 4-10 SL) fell into an early hole thanks to a shooting show from Oakland's Travis Bader, who started the contest 7-of-7 from the floor, including five threes in the first 10:26 of the contest, helping the Grizzlies (15-13, 10-4 SL) build a 32-18 lead.
By the 3:08 mark, Oakland had its advantage up to as many as 21 points at 43-22. It took a 45-28 lead into the halftime break. Bader cooled after the first 10 minutes, but led all scorers at the break with 19 points. Nelson Kirksey paced UMKC with nine points in the first half. The Grizzlies scored a 13-4 advantage in points off turnovers, and shot 15 percent better from the floor. They also hit 8-of-14 three pointers.
The second stanza saw OU hold its double-digit lead steady through the first 12 minutes, but UMKC came alive on both ends of the floor for the next six minutes though. An 8-0 run sparked by two buckets from Trinity Hall cut the lead to eight with 6:08 to play.
The Grizzlies put it back to 10, but with less than two minutes to play the 'Roos went on a 6-0 rally over the next minute, capped by a layup from senior Thomas Staton to get it down to four with 58 seconds remaining, putting the Senior Night crowd into a frenzy at 76-72.
The 'Roos elected to foul on the inbounds play after a timeout, and OU converted its free throws and got a stop on the other end. It would keep UMKC from scoring until only 14 seconds remained, and hit all 10 charities to seal it.
UMKC out-scored the Grizzlies 46-41 in the final half thanks to 62.1 percent shooting. The 'Roos scored 26 points in the paint as well, and got 11 points from Staton.
For the game, the two squads were just about even in shooting, but a 35-25 rebound lead and 16 more free throw attempts proved to be the difference. OU also outscored UMKC 15-6 in second-chance points. The win made it 14 straight in the series for Oakland.
Bader led all scorers with 29, while Drew Valentine had 17 and Ryan Bass put up 16. The 'Roos got 18 points from Kirksey (matched a career-high), while Staton tallied 17. Estan Tyler rounded out double-figure scorers with 11.
Kansas City will play its Ramada BracketBuster game next Saturday at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville at 7:00 p.m.

Kansas City Celebrates Senior Night Saturday Against Oakland

The 'Roos will celebrate senior night on Saturday when Oakland comes to Kansas City for a nationally televised game on Fox College Sports and locally on KSMO. The 'Roos have dropped six of their last seven, while Oakland comes in as the hottest team in the league, winning six straight. It will be the 33rd meeting between the 'Roos and Grizzlies, with Oakland holding a 26-6 advantage. OU has won the last 13 meetings in the series dating back to a February 15, 2007 overtime win for UMKC, 80-76.
Oakland enters the contest with a 14-13 overall record, and is 9-4 in conference play and on a six game win streak. The Grizzlies defeated each of the teams ahead of them in the standings during the stretch.
The Grizzlies are led by guard Travis Bader's 21.9 points per game (4.3 threes made per game), while center Corey Petros puts up 12.7 points and 8.4 boards (second in SL) per contest. Also in double figures is point guard Duke Mondy, who puts up 12.9 points per outing, and leads the Summit League in both steals (85) and assists (137).
As a team the Grizzlies lead the conference in steals per game (8.5) and turnover margin, forcing 14.9 miscues per outing. They shoot 22.9 free throws per game, ranking No. 1 in the league as well. They have allowed opponents to shoot .498, ranking last in the conference.
Even though UMKC lost to IPFW on Thursday night they did have one bright spot. Kansas City got a 19-point, 10 rebound performance by Fred Chatmon on Thursday against IPFW, his fourth double-double of the season. He has scored 20 and 19 points in his last two games.
Kansas City heads to Tennessee Tech for the Bracketbuster game next Saturday at 7:00 p.m. in Cookeville.