Roos’ basketball downed Omaha 62-52 on Friday followed up by a 55-47 win on Saturday at Swinney Center.
After missing the previous two games, senior guard Brandon McKissic headlined Friday’s contest by posting a career-high 29 points. McKissic also tallied four steals in a Roos’ victory where turnovers proved to be the difference.
Omaha turned the ball over 25 times compared to Kansas City’s 11. The Roos capitalized with 20 points coming from those turnovers. As a team, the Roos recorded 12 steals with four from McKissic and three each from Zion Williams and Franck Kamgain.
Omaha kept the game close with a halftime score of 27-23 Kansas City, but McKissic and the Roos exploded with a 19-8 run to start the second half. Omaha never recovered from the eight-point deficit, ultimately resulting in Kansas City’s win.
Friday also marked the return of big man Josiah Allick, who last played on Jan. 24 against ORU. Unfortunately, Allick struggled with fouls early in the game, and ended up fouling out of the contest late in the second half. Allick played a much cleaner game on Saturday and made a significant impact.
The Roos needed a big game from Allick as Saturday’s contest proved to be more challenging. Omaha tied the game at 28 just before halftime and came out quickly to take the lead early in the second half.
In Saturday’s win, Allick scored 21, going over 20 for the sixth time this season. His 21-point, 11-rebound double-double led the game in both categories.
Opportunistic defense and timely scoring lifted the Roos to victory on Saturday night. After trailing 45-40, Kansas City ended the game with a 15-2 run in the final 10 minutes.
Zion Williams hit a wide-open three-pointer with three minutes left to extend the Roos’ lead to 49-45. McKissic delivered the dagger, sinking a straight-away three with 34 seconds left to put the lead at 54-47. He scored 17 points, posting double digits in both of his first two games back after missing time.
The Roos improve to 9-10 with a healthy team. Even though Kansas City is in fifth place in the Summit League, first place is only two games out of reach. The Roos look to add to their three-game win streak in a two-game series against the 2-15 Denver Pioneers next weekend at Swinney Center.
