UMKC advances in WAC tournament with 70-61 win

Mar 13, 2016, 12:29 am

LAS VEGAS -- Reese Holliday scored 18 points and No. 2 seed UMKC beat seventh-seeded Texas-Pan American 70-61 on Thursday in a Western Athletic Conference tournament quarterfinal.

On Friday, the Kangaroos (14-18) play No. 3 seed Seattle, which beat sixth-seeded Chicago State 49-45 on Thursday night.

Deshon Taylor added 16 points, a career high, and Martez Harrison 14.

Shaquille Boga scored 14 points, Everett Osborne 11 and Shaquille Hines 10 for the Broncs (10-21), who also got 10 points and 10 rebounds from Dan Kimasa for his fifth double-double this season. The Broncs lost leading scorer Janari Joesaar early in the first half with an apparent ankle injury.

A 13-4 run with five points from Harrison and four from Holliday gave the Kangaroos their biggest lead at 62-49 with 6:58 left. The Broncs closed within seven with 41 seconds left but Harrison then hit two free throws.

UTPA beat UMKC at home in a regular-season finale 53-51 last Saturday on a last-second 3-pointer by Boga.

This was UMKC's first conference tournament victory since 2007.