Spring Break
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Kangaroos knock Thunderbirds from the sky
Dan Stroud
Issue date: 1/8/07 Section: Sports
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Sophomore Alex Pledger led the way with 14 points and seven rebounds, not to mention three blocked shots. Pledger showed a bit of his dark side on the court by kicking and clawing, setting numerous picks for teammates, and even setting the table for the team's scoring drives at the beginning of both stanzas. When the war had ended, the Kangaroos stood victorious and Pledger sported a three-inch scratch on his left arm picked up in the battles.
"I found it tough when I first came here to adjust to the aggression in the American game," said Pledger. "Also, in New Zealand I was much bigger than the others, making it much easier to dominate without an aggressive style. Hopefully I'll continue to improve."
Senior forward Dee Ayuba said he is constantly after Pledger to take control of the paint.
"He's really being aggressive right now," said Ayuba. "I tell him you're either going to fowl or make something good happen."
The latter seemed to be the case. Pledger opened the game by scoring six of the Kangaroos' first eight points while pulling down a pair of defensive rebounds.
From then until the end of the half, the teams exchanged the lead a dozen times. But the tide of fate began to turn UMKC's way as the half ended.
As the opening stanza was coming to a close, the Thunderbirds, leading 36-35 with 30 ticks left on the clock, set up their offense to take the last shot. The option chosen by the SUU squad turned out to be a perfectly executed play in which the basketball was placed in the hands of Thunderbird guard David Marek with just four seconds left in the period.
It was heaved from the corner closest to the T-birds locker room. Every thing seemed to be nicely packaged for the Roos opponents to take a four-point margin down the tunnel at the buzzer.
Then suddenly a bird, then again maybe it was a plane, no, in fact it was Pledger flying through the air like a seven-foot-tall gazelle to reject the shot and end the half with a sudden and unexpected momentum shift going the way of the Kangaroos.
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