ST. LOUIS, MO. – Junior Hunter Reine scored a career-high 23 points on Thursday night to help the University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team to an86-82 Great Lakes Valley Conference victory over McKendree.
 
Reine also notched his second double-double of the year with 12 rebounds as the Tritons won their third straight to improve to 9-12, including 3-9 in the GLVC. McKendree slips to 10-10 and 3-9 in the league.
 
In a game that saw six ties and 12 lead changes, the contest came down to several key plays in the final minute. A layup by senior Brandon Marquardt gave the Tritons an 82-77 lead with 61 seconds to play, but McKendree's David Franklin sunk a long three-pointer to cut the deficit to two seconds later. Marquardt then scored on an offensive putback for the four point lead, while McKendree's Nate Michael made the layup and was fouled on the ensuing possession before missing the bonus shot. Reine then missed the front end of a one-and-one, giving the ball back to McKendree with 17 seconds to go. After a timeout by McKendree, Michael was whistled for a five-second call on the inbounds play and after senior Tre Ogles was fouled, went to the free throw line to seal the victory, netting both attempts.
 
Ogles finished with 16 points, while Marquardt followed with 14 points, six rebounds and four assists. Redshirt freshman Joshua Webster scored 12 points and filled out the stat sheet by adding eight assists, seven rebounds and four blocked shots.
 
UMSL clung to a 47-46 halftime lead after McKendree erased a 12-point first half deficit. The Tritons took their largest lead of the game at 24-12 on a jumper by Ogles at the 12:16 mark before McKendree's Darin Winkelman knocked in three straight three-pointers to ignite a 15-2 run and then hit his fourth of the half to give the Bearcats a 27-26 advantage.
 
The Tritons led by seven twice in the second half, including 73-66 with 7:41 to play, but that was followed by a 9-3 Bearcats run that pulled the guests within 76-75 with just under four minutes to play.
 
UMSL shot 56.5 percent, including 63.6 percent in the first half, and owned a 40-28 rebounding advantage, while McKendree shot 46.7 percent. The Bearcats were led by Franklin's 21 points and Winkelman's 19 points on 6-of-9 three-point shooting.
 
UMSL will close out the home portion of its schedule on Saturday, hosting Illinois Springfield at 3 p.m. on Senior Day with Ogles and Marquardt being recognized prior to the contest.