LEBANON, ILL. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team trimmed a 15-point deficit to four points in the final minute, but couldn't pull ahead of McKendree as the Bearcats hung on for a 79-69 Great Lakes Valley Conference win on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Tritons slip to 10-13 overall, including 4-9 in the GLVC, while McKendree improves its ledger to 9-11 and 3-9 in the league.
 
Numbers of Note
-Junior Steven Davis scored a team-best 19 points, making five three-pointers. He netted four or more three-pointers for the ninth time this season and moved in to sixth place on the single season charts with 69 long balls. He scored 16 of his points in the second half.
 
-Junior Elijah Watson added 15 points, with 13 coming in the second half, while also dishing out seven assists.
 
-11 of 12 Triton players that saw action scored at least two points. UMSL had 10 players score in the first half, but none had more than three points.
 
-UMSL shot 38.5 percent, while McKendree connected at a 44.3 percent clip and held a 42-36 rebounding edge. The Bearcats made 11 three-pointers, while the Tritons tallied nine.
 
-Senior Hunter Reine pulled down nine rebounds and scored eight points.
 
-McKendree's Michael Jackson led all scorers with 26 points.
 
How it Happened
McKendree closed out the first half with a 10-0 run to take a 33-24 lead into halftime. That followed a 9-2 run by the Tritons which gave them their only lead of the game at 24-23 on an English pull up jumper at the 3:48 mark. The Bearcats jumped out to an early 17-8 lead before UMSL got back in it.
 
A quick three-pointer by McKendree to start the second half made it a 12-point lead before the Tritons trimmed it to 40-33 on a three-pointer from Davis with 17:00 minutes remaining.  
 
The Bearcats took their largest lead at 70-55 with 4:16 remaining before UMSL followed nine unanswered over the next 2:11, closing the gap to 70-64 on a three-pointer by freshman Kobe Wands.
 
A traditional three-point play by senior Joseph English with 41 seconds to play made it a 73-69 contest, but McKendree would end the game by going 6-of-6 at the free throw line.
 
Up Next
UMSL will host Southern Indiana on Thursday in the start of a five-game homestand to close out the regular season.