Box Score

LEBANON, ILL. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team drained a season-high 13 three-pointers en route to a 105-78 victory at McKendree on Friday night in Great Lakes Valley Conference action.
 
Senior Darian Cartharn tied a career-high 24 points, connecting on 6-of-9 from three-point range, while seniors Michael Weber and Femi John added 21 and 16 points, respectively. Weber was 5-of-5 from beyond the arc and finished 6-of-7 from the field. Juniors Aareon Smith (12 points) and Tylor Wimbish (10 points) and senior Shea Sumpter (10 points) also reached double figures.
 
The Tritons shot 59.4 percent from the field, including 72.2 percent (13-of-18) from three-point range.
 
UMSL, playing its first contest since December 18, improves to 8-2 overall with its sixth straight win and moves to 2-0 in the GLVC, while McKendree slips to 6-3 and 0-1 in the league.
 
The Tritons connected on six of their first eight field goals and took a 16-8 lead on a Cartharn three-pointer four and a half minutes into the game. The Bearcats followed with a 7-2 run to pull within 18-15, but the Tritons answered with a 10-3 run, including three straight buckets from John to post a 28-18 lead with just under 10 to play.
 
After a Wimbish bucket made it 30-20 with 9:19 to play, the Tritons' next five field goals came from beyond the arc, including three from Cartharn and two from Weber. Weber's second long ball with 5:17on the clock put UMSL ahead 45-32, before McKendree answered with a 12-5 run, trimming the deficit to 50-45 with 49 seconds to play. A three-point bucket from Derek Shouse accounted for the halftime score of 53-45.
 
An 8-0 run early in the second half helped stretch the advantage to 65-49 on a dunk by Smith at the 15:28 mark. McKendree answered with seven straight, but would get no closer as UMSL followed with an 11-2 run en route to the win.
 
McKendree was led by Clinton Happe's 21 points and shot 44.4 percent in the contest after a 53.8 percent first half outing.
 
The Tritons owned a 37-30 rebounding advantage with Smith and Wimbish collecting six boards each. John led the squad with four of UMSL's 13 steals, while Weber dished out six assists. The Tritons recorded 22 assists on 41 field goals.
 
UMSL is back in action on Sunday at Illinois Springfield in a 3 p.m. GLVC contest.
 
TRITON TIDBITS: UMSL improves to 13-5 all-time against the Bearcats, including 3-0 in GLVC games... the Tritons are 2-0 in the GLVC for the third time in program history – and the first since 2010-11… UMSL reached the 100-point plateau for the first time since a 152-107 win at Maryville during the 2009-10 season… it was just the fourth 100-point game on the road in program history… UMSL's 53 first half points were a season-high, while the 45 scored by McKendree was the most allowed by the Tritons... the 22 assists marked the fourth time this season the Tritons have tallied more than 20 assists in a game… senior Darian Cartharn went over 100 career three-pointers and now has 103, needing six more to crack the all-time top 10.