Kansas City Roos basketball teams beat St. Thomas, stay in third place in Summit

The Kansas City Roos men’s basketball team maintained its third-place tie in the Summit League standings with an 81-72 home win over St. Thomas on Thursday night at Swinney Center.

Evan Gilyard II led the Roos (14-9, 7-4) with 23 points. He shot 7 of 12 from the field, including 4 of 7 from three-point range, and added six assists.

Marvin Nesbitt Jr. had a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds and Arkel Lamar added 18 points for Kansas City, which takes on Western Illinois at 7 p.m. Saturday in Swinney.

Both teams shot well. St. Thomas (8-13, 2-7) lost its sixth game in a row despite shooting 51% from the field. The Roos shot 49.2% but had a 11-2 advantage in second-chance points after outrebounding St. Thomas 34-24.

South Dakota State leads the Summit at 11-0, followed by Oral Roberts (9-3), which is 1 1/2 games ahead of Kansas City and North Dakota State. Oral Roberts lost 90-85 at home to Western Illinois on Thursday night.

Roos women win

Naomie Alnatas scored 30 points as the Roos women beat St. Thomas 62-57 on Thursday night in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The Roos (17-5, 7-4) outscored St. Thomas 16-6 in the final quarter as they remained ahead of North Dakota for third place in the Summit. South Dakota (11-0) and South Dakota State (10-1) lead the conference.

This story was originally published February 3, 2022 at 9:25 PM.