ST. LOUIS, MO. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team shot 56.5 percent in the second half to erase a seven-point halftime deficit en route to a 75-62 victory over visiting Rockhurst on Saturday afternoon in Great Lakes Valley Conference action.
Redshirt freshman
Joshua Webster scored all 16 of his points in the final 20 minutes as the Tritons outscored the Hawks, 46-27, in the second half, and was one of three players in double figures with senior
Tre Ogles providing 15 points off the bench and junior
Hunter Reine adding 13 points.
UMSL improves to 8-12 overall, including 2-9 in the GLVC with its second straight win, while Rockhurst dips to 10-9 overall, including 5-6 in the GLVC.
Rockhurst shot 52 percent in the first 20 minutes en route to a 35-29 halftime lead, closing the opening frame on an 11-4 run. The Tritons held a pair of five points leads in the first seven minutes, including 12-7 with 13:08 on the clock following a pair of senior
Brandon Marquardt free throws, but a 12-5 spurt by the Hawks, with all 12 points scored on three-point buckets, gave the guests a 19-17 lead five minutes later.
Rockhurst took its largest lead of the game at 41-30 two minutes and 15 seconds into the second half before UMSL responded with 13 unanswered, which included five points from Ogles and two three-pointers from sophomore
Max Cook, to take a 44-40 lead at 14:07. Then after Rockhurst knotted the score at 44-44, the Tritons reeled off eight straight, pushing the advantage to 52-44 with 8:32 to play and never looked back.
The Tritons finished the game shooting 47.1 percent and owned a 36-29 rebounding advantage. Reine pulled down nine rebounds, while Webster grabbed seven. Rockhurst shot 39.6 percent after being held to 28.6 percent shooting in the second half.
UMSL was also able to take advantage of 15 Hawks turnovers, turning the miscues into 25 points on the other end. The Tritons also picked up 12 points on the fastbreak and received 27 points from their bench.
UMSL will wrap the home portion of its schedule next weekend, beginning Thursday when it hosts McKendree on the annual "Pack the Stands" night.
