ST. LOUIS, MO. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team outscored Walsh, 22-10, over the final seven minutes, erasing an eight-point deficit, en route to a 78-74 victory in its season opener on Friday night in the opening game of the GLVC-GMAC Challenge, being hosted by Maryville.
Records: UMSL (1-0), Walsh (0-1)
How it Happened
Junior
Josh Carter scored seven of his 15 points in the final three minutes, including a free throw that gave the Tritons a 73-72 lead with 1:12 to play – their first since the 4:48 mark of the first half – and two free throws with five seconds to go that sealed the game.
Walsh clung to a 38-36 halftime advantage after both teams had small leads in the first half. UMSL took its largest lead of the game at 24-18 with just over seven minutes on the clock following a pair of free throws from senior
Johnathan Matthews after Walsh's bench was called for a technical. However, the Cavs followed with a 15-4 run, capped with 10 straight, to pull ahead 33-28 four minutes later.
Walsh made 8-of-19 three-pointers in the first half, while UMSL was 2-of-5, but the Tritons limited the Cavs to just 4-of-13 in the second half.
Inside the Box Score
- Senior Eric Dust scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the double-double, while Carter also notched a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
- Junior Ronnie Carson scored a team-high 17 points, dished out seven assists and collected four steals in his Triton debut, while Matthews and sophomore Shane Wissink also got in double figures with 10 points each.
- UMSL shot 41.8 percent and held a 44-37 rebounding advantage, including a 15-9 edge on the offensive end, while Walsh shot 45 percent.
- The Tritons led for just 10:37 of the game.
- UMSL improved to 32-21 in season openers.
Up Next: UMSL will square off against Tiffin tomorrow at 1 p.m.
