No. 2 seed KC Roos upset by Denver at Summit League men’s basketball tournament
The Kansas City Roos’ six-game win streak came to a screeching halt on Saturday night in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
As did their play in the Summit League Tournament.
Isaiah Addo-Ankrah nailed a 3-pointer for Denver from the left wing with 5.6 seconds left in the game and the Pioneers ousted the Roos 61-60 in quarterfinals of the tournament.
The Kansas City Roos men’s program has not won a postseason tournament game (2017) since the Roos were in the WAC. The Roos have been back in the Summit League since 2020 and are still in search of tourney triumph since returning
But tough losses are as big a part of the madness of March as anything. And this one was a heart breaker for the Roos.
With its six straight victories to close out the regular season, Kansas City had surged to second place in the conference and subsequently received the No. 2 seed in the tournament. The Pioneers — whom the Roos beat twice in the regular season — are the No. 7 seed.
And the Roos’ 12-point halftime lead on Saturday was not enough. Kansas City led 33-21 at the break. But the Pioneers got things going quickly in the second half and knotted things up 41-41 with just under 11 minutes to go.
The two teams battled through an exchange of leads and tie scores the rest of the way.
Still, the Roos had a 60-58 advantage after the Roos’ Khristion Courseault made 1 of 2 free throws with 21 seconds to go.
Then came Addo-Ankrah’s 3-pointer after a Pioneers guard had dribbled his way below the Roos’ defense at the baseline and dished the ball out to Addo-Ankrah on the wing for the dagger.
Kansas City had a chance to counter, though, and called a timeout.
The Roos ultimately got the ball to Courseault at the rim. But Pedro Lopez-Sanvicente blocked Courseault’s potential buzzer beater at the rim. Game over.
Cameron Faas made 4 of 9 3-pointers for Kansas City and finished with a team-high 14 points.
Courseault and Jayson Petty added 13 points each for the Roos.
Kansas City’s Jamar Brown, a first-team all-Summit League selection, scored seven points and pulled down six rebounds.
The loss puts the Roos at 16-16.
