ST. LOUIS, MO. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team opened the 2015-16 season on Tuesday night with a 71-44 exhibition loss at Saint Louis University.
 
The Tritons were plagued by 19 turnovers and were outscored 16-6 in points off turnovers.
 
UMSL will now turn its focus to the regular season, tipping off its 50th season of play this weekend in Allendale, Mich., at the GLVC/GLIAC Challenge, hosted by Grand Valley State. UMSL will face Ferris State on Saturday before meeting the host Lakers on Sunday.
 
Senior Tre Ogles scored a team-best eight points, netting both three-point attempts, while junior Joseph English followed with seven points. 10 different players got in the scoring column.
 
Saint Louis took a 30-19 lead into the half. The Tritons shot 38.9 percent in the opening stanza to the Billikens' 35.5 percent, but were plagued with 13 turnovers that led to 12 Billiken points.
 
English scored the first bucket of the game before Saint Louis followed with eight unanswered for the early 8-2 advantage. The Billikens then missed six straight from the field as UMSL took advantage with a 10-0 run, going on top 12-8 at the 8:58 mark on junior Hunter Reine's jumper.
 
Saint Louis answered with another eight straight to ignite a 17-2 run for a 25-14 advantage with 2:37 to go. UMSL turned the ball over six times during that stretch.
 
The Billikens extended the lead to 53-31 midway through the second half and outscored the Tritons 41-25 in the final 20 minutes behind 48.3 percent second half shooting.
 
UMSL shot 33.3 percent, while Saint Louis connected at a 41.7 percent mark and owned a 44-36 rebounding advantage. Reine pulled down nine boards and added a pair of blocked shots.
 
Sophomore Max Cook and freshman Joshua Webster recorded three assists each.