COLUMBIA, MO. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team hit the hardwood for the first time this season on Saturday with an exhibition contest at its sister school, the University of Missouri. The Tritons held an early 11-point first half team, but lost the contest, 77-54.
With its lone preseason test wrapped up, UMSL will now turn its focus to next Saturday's season opener when the Tritons tip off their 49
th season of intercollegiate play against Grand Valley State in the first game of the GLVC/GLIAC Challenge, hosted by Quincy.
Junior transfer
Kevin Swanson paced the UMSL offense with 15 points in his debut, while fellow newcomer junior
Tre Ogles followed with 13 points.
UMSL jumped out to an early 7-2 lead on junior
Derek Williams' three-pointer just two and half minutes into the contest. The host Tigers later tied it at 7-7 before posting a 14-13 lead at the 12:37 mark.
UMSL then followed with three straight three-pointers, including two from sophomore
Alex Majewski to ignite an 11-1 run, giving them a 25-14 lead just under the 10 minute mark.
However, Mizzou came storming back in the final eight minutes of the half, closing out the opening stanza by outscoring UMSL, 25-9. Johnathan Williams III hit a three-pointer with four seconds on the clock to give the Tigers a 39-34 lead at the break.
The Tigers didn't break the game open until midway through the second half with 11 unanswered points turned a 54-48 lead into a 65-48 advantage with 7:53 to play.
The Tritons shot 34.7 percent from the field after opening the contest hitting 7-of-11 from the field, including all five of their first three-point attempts. Mizzou connected at a 43.1 percent clip and owned a 40-33 rebounding advantage. Majewski had six boards for UMSL.
