Roos blow lead against Drake, take winless record into Saturday game against NAIA Avila

The UMKC Roos’ search for Win No. 1 continues.

Kareem Richardson’s squad fell to 0-6 in its homecoming to Municipal Auditorium Wednesday night with a 66-63 loss to Drake.

Coming off an overtime loss to Eastern Washington Saturday, UMKC scored eight straight points to open the second half for a 37-30 advantage, and led by as many as 10 after intermission. But the Bulldogs put together a 14-3 run capped by Tremell Murphy’s free throw for a 52-49 lead.

This one was close down the stretch. Drake led by no more than five points in the second half. Xavier Bishop sank a free throw with 36 seconds left to pull the Roos (0-6) withing three, but Brandon Mckissic’s three-pointer at the buzzer fell short.

“I thought our defense was really good at the end,” Richardson said. “We had a couple lapses there with that 10-point lead and they (Drake) just chipped away at it. We probably played 90 percent of our possessions really good and 10 percent not so much in crucial spots for the game.”

Bishop scored 27 points and Jordan Giles added 11 for UMKC, which outscored Drake 30-16 in the paint.

Brady Ellingson scored 13 points with a trio of three-pointers and six rebounds for Drake.

D.J. Wilkins, Nick McGlynn and Garrett Sturtz scored nine points apiece for the Bulldogs (3-1), who shot 36 percent and made nine of 27 three-pointers.

The Roos were 4 of 22 from three-point range.

Next up for UMKC is a home game against a likewise winless NAIA opponent from just down the road — Avila (0-5) — on Saturday. Tipoff for that one is 2 p.m.