UMSL bests Maryville to move to 3-0 in GLVC play
UMSL Sports Information
BOX SCORE
ST. LOUIS, MO. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men’s basketball team withstood a second-half surge by host Maryville University to post a 64-58 victory over the Saints and remain undefeated in the Great Lakes Valley Conference standings on Monday night in league action.
The Tritons, which owned a 34-19 halftime lead, took their biggest lead of the game at 40-19 on a Zach Redel conventional three-point play 1:17 into the second half. Maryville then followed with a 17-4 run to cut its deficit to 44-36 on a Mike Ford dunk at the 11:35 mark.
The Saints continued to whittle the lead down, pulling within 48-43 on a Tyler Waite three-point bucket with 7:22 to play, but UMSL responded with a 7-2 run, capped by a Joshua McCoy jumper that pushed the Tritons’ advantage back to double figures at 55-45 just under the five minute mark.
The Saints still weren’t finished, pulling within five three times before cutting it to 60-56 with 30 ticks on the clock. However, UMSL, which finished the game shooting 88 percent (22-of-25) at the free throw line, connected on 6-of-7 at the charity stripe in the final two minutes to help preserve the win and improve to 8-3 overall, including 3-0 in the GLVC. Maryville fell to 7-3 and 1-2 in the league with the loss.
Senior Troy Long led all players with 21 points, nailing four three-pointers, and added four assists, while McCoy followed with 14 points, five rebounds and three steals.
The Tritons shot 41.5 percent from the field, while Maryville shot 47.6 percent, including 58.3 percent in the second half and owned a 27-26 rebounding advantage. The Saints out-scored UMSL, 39-30, in the second half, while the Tritons were able to take advantage of Maryville’s 15 turnovers, scoring 18 points on the other end.
Junior Isiah Nunn had six rebounds and finished with two blocked shots and eight points.
UMSL resumes play on Thursday, hosting Wisconsin-Parkside in its GLVC home opener at 7:30 p.m.