KINGSPORT, Tenn. – The IU Kokomo men's basketball team suffered a setback Saturday afternoon against Union College (Ky.) via a buzzer-beating three-quarter court shot. With the 75-74 loss in the first game of "The Show", the Cougars are now 5-2 on the year.

Senior forward Darian Porch scored the first IU Kokomo points Saturday, giving the Cougars a lead they maintained for the entirety of the opening half. A Dell DeMeyers fastbreak bucket extended the IUK lead to 11 at 23-12 nearly ten minutes into the game. DeMeyers had nine first-half points to lead the Cougs.

An 8-0 spurt from the Bulldogs trimmed the Cougar lead to three at 27-24 four minutes remaining in the first half, but the Cougars managed to extend their lead prior to halftime. A Darian Porch deuce in the paint with three seconds remaining in the first half gave IU Kokomo a 37-30 halftime lead.

IU Kokomo managed to re-build their lead to double-digits in the first minute of the second half, and took their largest lead of the game at 52-40 with 14:42 remaining in the game.

Union College eventually cut into the IU Kokomo lead by way of the charity stripe, as the Bulldogs were 15-20 from the free-throw line in the second half. Trailing 59-54, Union College went on an 8-0 run to take a 62-59 lead, their first lead of the game.

The two teams traded triples to knot the score at 67 with 2:27 remaining, before Ty Wills scored in the paint to give IUK a two-point lead. The Bulldogs scored five unanswered points to lead 72-69 with 55 seconds left, but Dell DeMeyers came up clutch, drilling a trey to tie the game at 72 with 44 seconds to play.

After IU Kokomo was able to get a stop on the defensive end, head coach Eric Echelbarger took a timeout to set things up. Out of the timeout, Hunter Jackson scored at the rim with one second remaining for a 74-72 IUK lead, but Union College drilled a nearly three-quarter court shot as time expired to sneak past IU Kokomo 75-74.

Dell DeMeyers led the Cougars in scoring with 14 points. Four other Cougs scored in double figures, as Hunter Jackson and Hunter White each scored 12 while Darian Porch and Ty Wills each had ten points. Zach Rinehart pulled down a team-leading ten rebounds.

The Cougars will wrap up play in Kingsport tomorrow as they take on Shawnee State at 4:15 P.M.
 
 For the latest news, updates, and information on the IU Kokomo Cougars, fans can visit IUKCougars.com. Fans can also stay up to date on the latest Cougar news by following @IUKAthletics on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.