OAKLAND, Calif. Head-Royce scored the game's final eight points to beat International 51-49 on Saturday, June 15, improving to 6-2 this summer. Micah Nyamuzuwe scored 22 points, including the tying and go-ahead baskets off International turnovers, as the Jayhawks came back from a six-point deficit late.
Nyamuzuwe opened the scoring with a second-chance 3-pointer on an assist from Micah Riebel, and two Riebel free throws made it 5-0. International answered with nine straight points to lead 9-5. The teams traded 3-pointers before Head-Royce went on a 7-0 run. Nyamuzuwe scored on a second-chance basket and hit a 3-pointer set up by Bryce Clepper, and two Clepper free throws gave the Jayhawks a 15-12 lead.
Head-Royce pulled ahead from there. Riebel made two more free throws, and Jack Peay added a 3-pointer and a basket off a Nyamuzuwe assist for a 22-14 lead, the Jayhawks' largest of the game. International hit back-to-back 3-pointers, but a Nick Taubes basket, two Riebel free throws and a Clepper basket assisted by Riebel restored the eight-point lead at 28-20. International then scored eight straight points, capped by a 3-pointer, to tie the game at 28-28.
The game stayed close the rest of the way, with six ties and two lead changes. International led 37-32 before Nyamuzuwe scored five straight points on a basket and a second-chance 3-pointer to tie it at 37. Riebel's second-chance basket put Head-Royce back in front at 39-37. International answered with two second-chance baskets and later went up 49-43, its largest lead, on a basket and three free throws.
Head-Royce closed on an 8-0 run. Nyamuzuwe made a free throw, and Peay made three straight free throws to cut the deficit to 49-47. Nyamuzuwe tied the game with a basket off a turnover, assisted by Peay, and then scored off another turnover for the final points.
Nyamuzuwe shot 9 of 19 from the field and 3 of 9 from 3-point range, adding four rebounds and two blocks without a turnover. Riebel scored 13 points, made all eight of his free throws and added nine rebounds (five offensive) and a team-high three assists. Peay, a sophomore, scored eight points and led the team with 10 rebounds. Clepper had six points on 4-of-4 free throw shooting and five rebounds, and Taubes added two points, four rebounds and two assists. Lamarr Covington had three rebounds and a steal. The starters scored all 51 points.
Head-Royce shot 32.6 percent (15 of 46), and International shot 34.8 percent while making 8 of 26 from 3-point range. The difference came at the free throw line and on the boards. The Jayhawks made 16 of 18 free throws to International's 9 of 10, after being fouled 14 times while committing six fouls. They also outrebounded International 35-25, grabbed 13 offensive rebounds to International's six and won second-chance points 10-6. Head-Royce also held a 4-2 edge in points off turnovers.
The win was Head-Royce's second straight and moved the Jayhawks to 6-2.