Kangaroos Perform In The Clutch In 73-69 Win Over Florida Gulf Coast

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Fort Myers, Fla. – The UMKC men’s basketball team fought back from a 10-point second half deficit to defeat Florida Gulf Coast, 73-69, in the finale of the O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic on Wednesday night at Alico Arena. The Kangaroos had three players finish in double figures in the game with sophomore Reggie Hamilton leading the way with a game-high 22 points.

FGCU jumped on the UMKC from the opening tip, as it scored the first 12 points of the contest. The Kangaroos answered with a 6-0 run to cut the deficit in half, but the squad played the remainder of the half playing catch-up.

UMKC trimmed the margin to two points three times in the first half with the final coming at 28-26 at the 2:20 mark on a James Humphrey dunk. The Eagles, however, regained the advantage by scoring 10-of-13 points to take a 38-29 lead into the break.

The Kangaroos scored the first five points of the second half via a Dane Brumagin three-pointer and a Spencer Johnson jumper to get to within four at 38-34, but FGCU answered with a 9-3 run to stretch the margin back to 10 (47-37) with 16:07 remaining.

The Kangaroos turned the tide with a 15-4 spurt over a five-minute span to take their first lead of the game, 52-51. UMKC connected on four three pointers during the spurt, which included a pair of long balls by freshman Latreze Mushatt.

With the score tied at 56, Brumagin gave UMKC the 59-56 lead with 7:31 to play on a three-pointer, and the Kangaroos pushed the advantage to four points (64-60) with 4:32 left. The Eagles, however, continued battling as they fought back to take the one-point lead on a Kyle Marks dunk with 3:01 to play.

Hamilton then took over in the clutch, as he scored six straight points to give UMKC the 70-65 lead. FGCU cut the margin to two points twice in the closing seconds, but Hamilton hit two free throws with 2.5 seconds left to seal the victory.

UMKC finished with a .431 (22-51) field goal percentage, which included a 10-of-24 night from long range. The 10 three-pointers are a season-high for the squad. FGCU, meanwhile, shot .397 (23-58) from the floor, and it out rebounded the Kangaroos, 38-35.

Hamilton made 5-of-10 shots from the floor, 3-of-6 three-pointers and 9-of-11 free throws to record his fourth straight 20-point game. The guard also had seven assists and six rebounds in the contest. Brumagin finished with 17 in the game, while Mushatt scored 14 to go along with a team-high eight boards.

Reed Baker led a group of four Eagle players in double figures, as he finished with 17 points in the game.

UMKC (3-4) will close out its season-long seven game road trip against No. 18/17 Florida on Sunday afternoon in Orlando, Fla.