Box Score

JEFFERSON CITY, MO. – Sophomore Aareon Smith scored a career-high 22 points, leading three Tritons in double figures, as the University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team recorded an 81-65 victory at Lincoln on Monday night.
 
Smith, who was 7-of-11 from the field and 7-of-7 at the free throw line, added eight rebounds and two steals, while senior Joshua McCoy and junior Michael Weber added 17 and 14 points, respectively.
 
The Tritons improve to 6-2 overall with the win, while Lincoln slips to 2-9.
 
UMSL hit just one of its first five field goals to open the game, allowing Lincoln to jump out to an early 11-3 lead. However, the Tritons followed with a 10-2 run capped by a Charlie Woods layup that knotted the score at 13-13 with 13:23 to play.
 
Six unanswered points by UMSL, including four from senior Justin Jones, gave the Tritons their first lead of the game at 23-21 with seven minutes on the clock. Lincoln then responded with six straight of their own to retake the lead at 27-23 at the 4:46 mark, but the Tritons got the final run of the half, outscoring the Blue Tigers, 14-4, to close out the stanza and took a 37-31 lead into the intermission.
 
UMSL opened the second half with a 6-2 run, pushing the lead to double figures at 43-33 on a Smith layup. Lincoln pulled within 47-42 with 14:46 remaining before the Tritons took their largest lead of the contest at 67-52 on a McCoy traditional three-point play.
 
UMSL shot an even 48 percent from the floor, while owning a 36-31 rebounding advantage, and held the Blue Tigers to 39.3 percent shooting.
 
UMSL closes out nonconference action on Wednesday, hosting Culver-Stockton at 3:15 p.m.
 
TRITON TIDBITS: UMSL completed the season sweep of Lincoln as the Tritons posted an 81-71 win over the Blue Tigers in St. Louis on Dec. 1… the Tritons improve to 26-11 all-time against Lincoln… the win was career victory number 449 for UMSL head coach Steve Tappmeyer.