ST. LOUIS, MO. – Senior
Tre Ogles sunk two free throws with 1.8 seconds to play to give the University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team a 72-71 Great Lakes Valley Conference victory over Illinois Springfield on Saturday afternoon in the home finale for the Tritons.
Ogles' heroics came after the visiting Prairie Stars netted two free throws with 10.8 seconds remaining for a 71-70 advantage. Redshirt freshman
Joshua Webster then drove the lane and after he missed, Ogles was able to scoop up the offensive rebound while getting fouled.
The Tritons overcame a 15-point deficit in the win, improving to 9-12 overall, including 4-9 in the GLVC, with their fourth straight win.
Webster finished with 15 points, four rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal, while senior
Brandon Marquardt added 12 points on four three-pointers. Marquardt and Ogles, who recorded nine points, were honored prior to the contest as part of Senior Day festivities.
Illinois Springfield took a 39-30 lead into halftime behind 53.3 percent first half shooting, which included netting 7-of-10 three-point attempts. Prairie Stars' Bahari Amaya connected on all four of his three-point field goals en route to 16 first half points and scored 14 in the first eight and a half minutes in to help UIS to an early 18-10 advantage.
A 10-4 start to the second half gave the guests a 49-34 lead three minutes in, but UMSL later slowly began chipping away, using a 7-1 run to pull within 52-47 on a pair of Ogles free throws with 13:38 remaining. UIS built the lead back to 58-50 with exactly 11 minutes to go the Tritons followed with a 15-4 run and took a 65-62 lead with 5:06 remaining.
UMSL shot 43.6 percent in the win, including 50 percent in the second half, while Illinois Springfield shot 48 percent. They finished 10-of-18 from three-point range with Amaya finishing 5-of-5 from long distance for 19 points.
Both teams pulled down 32 rebounds. Sophomore
Max Cook pulled down six boards, dished out three assists and scored nine points on three triples. Junior
Joseph English tallied eight assists.
The Tritons begin a five-game roadtrip to wrap up the regular season on Thursday at No. 9 ranked Bellarmine.
