KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The UMKC Kangaroos connected on 13-of-21 (61.9%) three-point shots on their way to a 72-50 victory over the Western Illinois Fighting Leathernecks Thursday (Jan. 19) in Kansas City. Western drops its third straight and falls to 9-8 overall, and 4-5 in Summit League games, while UMKC ends its own losing streak at eight games and improves to 8-13 overall, and 2-7 in league-play.

"We played a team that was desperate, and we have to go back and analyze the tape and see defensively how we're doing," said head coach Jim Molinari. "Our energy level was down again tonight I thought. We obviously haven't played well these last few games. We haven't defended the three at all. There is a lot of season left, and I am not going to give up on these guys at all."

Senior guard Ceola Clark III picked up his first steal of the game early in the second half, his 168th career swipe, making him the all-time leader in Western Illinois program history.

Clark (11) and fellow senior Tommie Tyler (10) were the two lone Leathernecks in double figures when the final buzzer sounded; Clark also had six assists. Junior forward Terell Parks pulled down a team-best six rebounds and tallied nine points.

Clark opened things up with a shot from downtown, putting the Leathernecks up 3-0 early, but after a few minutes of back-and-forth basketball, UMKC sophomore forward Trinity Hall connected on a three of his own to give the 'Roos their first lead of the contest, 7-5.

Western regained the lead momentarily, but that wouldn't last long as UMKC would take it back and extend it to as large as 11 points with just under four minutes to play in the first. However, an 11-5 run would allow for the Leathernecks to crawl back within five points at halftime, 29-24.

UMKC came out firing in the second, scoring the first four points of the half, extending its lead to nine, 33-24. The 'Roos didn't stop there, opening the half with a 16-8 run, and jumping out to a 13-point lead, 45-32, with 13 minutes left in regulation.

Western put a 6-0 run together till roughly the eight minute mark to make it a 7-point game, 54-47, but UMKC was able to extend its lead back to double-digits with a triple with 7:30 left in the game.

The 'Roos didn't look back after that, pulling away to a 72-50 victory. 

Western continues its road trip Saturday evening when it travels north to face the Coyotes of South Dakota in Vermillion, S.D. at 7:30 p.m.

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