KC Roos blow out Portland State behind best offensive performance since November
A busy Saturday of KC Roos basketball produced two double-digit wins — for both the men’s and women’s teams.
Along the way, the KC Roos men earned one of their most dominant victories of the season.
Entering Saturday having lost four of five, the Roos thrashed Portland State 83-67 at Swinney Center. KC got a notable scoring lift from veteran forward Allen David Mukeba Jr. off the bench, as the junior scored 18 points (8-for-11 shooting) with six rebounds.
Khristion Courseault chipped in another 13 points and six assists, while Yulian Ramirez-Montero hit three 3-point shots, with both sparking KC from the second unit. In all, the bench provided 46 of KC’s 83 points.
Of the starters, Jamar Brown produced a double-double, finishing with 11 points, 10 rebounds; Tyler Andrews added nine points while hitting a pair of 3-point shots.
The Roos, as a team, went 9-for-22 from 3, for 40.9%. They also shot 80% (12-for-15) on free throws and turned the ball over only nine times.
The game was never really in question, as the Roos led by 20 points at halftime. Outside of a 30-second stretch in the second half, the margin never dipped below double-figures. Portland State (10-5) only got as close as nine points in the second half.
As for the offense, the Roos last scored 83 points in an overtime loss to Brown on Nov. 25. They have only eclipsed that total one time this year, a 95-42 blowout win over the University of Saint Mary back on Nov. 11.
KC (7-10, 1-1 in conference play) returns to Summit League action in its next game, as the team will face North Dakota State at Swinney Center.
KC Roos women’s basketball 61, Weber State 51
The women’s team didn’t have things quite as easy on Saturday, but it pulled away for a double-digit win after outscoring Weber State by five in the game’s final quarter.
It was close to a two-woman show when it came to the offense, with Alayna Contreras scoring 20 points on 9-for-16 shooting and Dominique Phillips adding 14 points and six rebounds.
Outside of the duo, which shot a combined 13-for-20 from the field and 8-for-8 on free throws, KC shot 10-for-40 (25%) from the field and went just 6-for-11 (54.5%) at the line.
Other notable performances included nine points and four rebounds from Emani Bennett, eight points from Nariyah Simmons and five points and eight rebounds from Tamia Ugass.
The Roos entered the fourth quarter ahead by five and saw that lead shrink to three shortly after, but Contreras, Bennett and Simmons quickly pushed that advantage back to nine with three consecutive buckets. Contreras later capped an 8-0 run and brought the lead to 11 points.
Weber State (3-12) clawed back within three at the 2:45 mark, but Phillips assisted a Simmons 3 and the Roos closed the game out with five made free throws.
Up next for KC (9-8, 0-2 Summit League): a road contest at North Dakota State on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
