ST. LOUIS – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team cruised to a 94-48 win over East-West University in its home opener at the Mark Twain Building on Thursday evening. The Tritons improve to 3-0 while the Phantoms drop to 0-9.
UMSL fell behind 4-0 to begin the contest before going on a 15-5 run to grab a six-point lead after a layup from junior
Dylan West with 13:55 left in the opening half. East-West cut the Triton lead to 17-16 after a jumper from De Quannis Jackson but that would be the closest it got as UMSL went on a 29-8 run over the remainder of the half to take a 22-point lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Tritons shot 50 percent (19-for-38) from the floor in the stanza including 6-of-14 from three and hit two of their three free throws. They outrebounded the Phantoms 26-12 and outscored them 9-2 in second chance points. Freshman
Matt Enright led UMSL in scoring with 11 points while West added nine and redshirt-junior
Isaiah Fuller chipped in with seven.
East-West was held to 37 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes and was led in scoring by Jackson with eight points.
The Tritons opened the second half on a 21-3 run to put the game away as they stretched their lead to 40 and led by as many as 50 with 3:31 remaining.
UMSL had 13 players score at least two points in the contest with Enright leading the way with 14 points while freshman
Sam Bledsoe added 12 off the bench. West and redshirt-junior
Trever Moore finished with nine points apiece, Fuller and fifth-year senior
Victor Nwagbaraocha added eight points each. Fuller and junior
Janeir Harris had six rebounds apiece while sophomore
Donovan Vickers dished out seven assists.
The Tritons shot 49 percent (37-for-75) from the field including 14-of-31 from three and 75 percent at the foul line. They had a 48-32 advantage on the glass, 42-18 in the paint and their bench outscored the Phantoms 53-14.
East-West was held to 32 percent (17-for-54) shooting in the contest, it was 5-of-26 from three and shot 60 percent at the foul line. Jackson led all scorers with 18 points while Devin Conley finished with seven points.
UMSL continues its three-game homestand next Tuesday as it hosts Grand Valley State in the St. Louis Union Station Hotel UMSL Thanksgiving Classic at 3:15 p.m. at the Mark Twain Building.
