UMKC loses at California Baptist for third straight defeat

UMKC’s run at matching last season’s win total is in full-snag mode.

The Kangaroos lost to California Baptist 70-60 on Saturday night in Riverside, Calif. It was UMKC’s third straight loss and sixth defeat in its last seven games.

The Kangaroos are 8-16 on the season and fell to 3-6 in the WAC. UMKC is two wins shy of last season’s win total of 10 games.

California Baptist, meanwhile, got to .500 in conference play at 5-5 and upped its overall record to 13-10.

The ‘Roos were down just one point at the half at 31-30 but had a difficult time getting any thing going early in the second half and had to play catch-up for most of the period. The Lancers pulled away and outscored UMKC 39-30 in the second half.

UMKC split the season series with California Baptist. The Kangaroos beat the Lancers 84-68 in the teams’ first meeting Jan. 10.

Rob Whitfield paced the Kangaroos on Saturday with 17 points. Whitfield made 5 of 8 three-pointers. Marvin Nesbitt, meanwhile, had 10 points and a team-high 10 rebounds for the Kangaroos.

Jordan Heading led the Lancers with 24 points. California Baptist’s Milan Acquaah — the WAC’s leading scorer at 21.2 points per game heading into Saturday’s game — finished with 22 points.

UMKC returns to action with a home game against Grand Canyon at Swinney Recreation Center on Thursday at 6 p.m.

This story was originally published February 9, 2019 at 11:13 PM.