KC Roos fall to Middle Tennessee to finish last at Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship

Despite a narrow halftime lead, the KC Roos men’s basketball team (2-5) couldn’t salvage its trip to the Bahamas for the Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship, finishing last in the eight-team field with a 63-59 defeat to Middle Tennessee on Sunday.

The Roos lost their first game to UNC Greensboro before falling to Brown in overtime on Saturday. They went 0-3 at the event.

A major difference in Sunday’s game came at the free-throw line, where the Blue Raiders went 17-for-24 (70.8%), while KC went 6-for-11 (54.5%). The stats were fairly even otherwise, with the Roos actually slightly outshooting the Blue Raiders both from the field and from 3, while the teams had the same number of offensive rebounds (eight) and turnovers (13).

And through 20 minutes, the game very much looked like an even contest.

The Roos held a three-point advantage (31-28) at the half thanks to 11 points from Jamar Brown and eight from Artese Stapleton. The rest of the team had combined for 12 points at that time, and Anderson Kopp, who erupted for a season-best 19 points a game earlier, was still scoreless.

Kopp finished with one point and did not make any of his six field-goal attempts. He did have five rebounds and three assists.

The Roos allowed a 15-0 run to begin the second half as part of a larger 19-0 spurt, counting the end of the first period. They fell behind by as many as 17 (51-34) before scrambling to make it a close finish.

KC cut the deficit to three with 6:41 to play on a Cameron Faas basket. The Roos later pulled within two (59-57) when Allen David Mukeba Jr. scored with 1:46 to play. But Middle Tennessee (4-4) answered with a 3-point basket and later added a free throw to put the game out of reach in the final seconds.

Stapleton finished with 14 points and four assists, while Brown totaled 13 points and five rebounds. Faas scored eight points, adding five rebounds, two assists and a block.

The Roos will return to action on Nov. 30 against Southeast Missouri State.