Oct. 23, 2004
Date: 10-23-04 Contact: Sam Fleury, Athletic Media Relations, (573) 884-2437
Columbia, Mo. - The University of Missouri Men's Basketball squad had its first opportunity to play in front of a crowd in its new home on Saturday. The Tigers hosted 4,353 of their fans at the annual Black & Gold game on Saturday night in the new Paige Sports Arena with the Mizzou Black squad taking the contest, 31-26.
Senior Jason Conley and junior Jimmy McKinney led the charge for the Black squad, scoring 13 and 10 points respectively. Conley was 6-of-10 from the field including 1-of-3 from three in the intra-squad contest that consisted of two 10 minute halves. McKinney was also on his game, knocking down 4-of-8 shots (including two highlight reel dunks) and pulling down four rebounds in the win. Sophomore Spencer Laurie, who ran the point guard position for the Black, pitched in with three steals.
Tiger sophomores Linas Kleiza and Thomas Gardner paced the Gold squad with nine and eight points respectively. Kleiza also weighed in with six rebounds and a block while Gardner was 2-of-4 from three. The Black squad shot 48.3 percent from the field while the Gold managed only 32.1 percent.
Next up for Mizzou will be their first exhibition contest on Nov. 4 against Central Missouri State at the Paige Sports Arena. Tip is set for 7 pm and the game can be seen on the Mizzou Sports Network. For more information on Missouri Basketball, log on to www.mutigers.com.
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