LIBERTY, MO., January 28, 2017 – William Jewell's Patrick Whelan scored five points in the final 41 seconds to help lead the Cardinals to a 69-68 victory over the visiting University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team Saturday afternoon in Great Lakes Valley Conference action.
 
Whelan, who finished with a game-high 29 points, netted the second of two free throws with 7.8 seconds to play for the game-winner, while his three-pointer with 41 seconds remaining had put the Cardinals on top, 67-66.
 
UMSL slips to 9-12 overall, including 3-8 in the GLVC, while William Jewell improves its ledger to 6-12 and 2-8 in the league.
 
Numbers of Note
-Junior Elijah Watson scored a season-high 27 points, shooting 8-of-16 from the field and 9-of-10 at the free throw line.
 
-Senior Hunter Reine followed with nine points and 13 rebounds to help UMSL to a 40-33 rebounding advantage, including a 14-7 edge on the offensive end.
 
-The Tritons shot an even 40 percent, but were just 4-of-14 (28.6 percent) from three-point range, while William Jewell connected at a 48 percent clip, including 54.2 percent in the first half.
 
-The Cardinals won despite going 14-of-24 at the free-throw line, while UMSL was 20-of-27.
 
How it Happened
William Jewell jumped out to an early 7-0 lead before the Tritons rallied to knot the score at 15-15. White later scored back-to-back buckets for UMSL, giving his team its first lead at 24-23 with 6:11 remaining. However, the Cardinals ended the opening frame with a 12-5 run to take a 35-30 halftime lead.
 
A three-pointer by William Jewell with 13:10 to play gave the hosts a 48-39 lead, but the Tritons followed with a 12-3 run over the next three and a half minutes to pull ahead 51-50 on a Reine layup.
 
After William Jewell took a 64-58 lead, Watson scored eight of UMSL's next 10 points, giving the Tritons a 66-64 lead with 1:41 to play, but a minute later the Cardinals knocked down a three-pointer for the one point advantage.
 
Whelan then made one of two free throws with 20 seconds to play for a 68-66 score before Watson drove the lane and was fouled, converting both tosses to make it 68-68. The Tritons were flagged for a foul on the ensuing inbounds sending Whelan back to the line, where he made the eventual game-winner.
 
UMSL got a shot off at the buzzer, but junior Max Cook's bounced off the back of the rim.
 
Up Next
UMSL stays in the western part of Missouri for a Saturday contest at William Jewell.