ST. LOUIS – The No. 24 University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team shot 76 percent (19-for-25) from the floor in the second half to defeat Grand Valley State 78-66 on the first day of the St. Louis Union Station Hotel UMSL Thanksgiving Classic at the Mark Twain Building. The Tritons improve to 4-0 while the Lakers drop to 2-3.
UMSL fell behind early before going on a 9-0 run to grab a 12-5 lead 5:38 into the contest. Grand Valley closed to within one at 17-16 after a three-pointer from Austin James just past the midway point of the half.
The Tritons pushed the lead back to four but then went cold from the floor hitting only 5-of-18 shots which allowed the Lakers to go on a 16-4 and take their largest lead of the contest at 32-24 on a layup from Daniel Kelly.
UMSL got its offense going again in the final 1:13 of the frame as
Isaiah Fuller hit a pair of three throws,
Mayson Quartlebaum scored on a fast break layup and
Trever Moore hit a three-pointer from the right corner at the buzzer to bring the Tritons within 32-31 at the break.
UMSL hit eight of its first 10 shots to begin the second half but Grand Valley hit five of its first six shots as the two sides were tied at 43 with 15:06 to go. The Tritons locked down on the defensive end over the next five minutes outscoring the Lakers 18-4 to build a 61-47 lead with 10:04 to play. Fuller had six points in the run while
Matt Enright added five,
Janeir Harris and
Bowen Sandquist had three points apiece and
Dylan West dropped in two more.
Grand Valley wouldn't get closer than 11 points the rest of the contest as UMSL cruised to the 12-point victory.
The Tritons finished the game shooting 57 percent (31-for-54) from the floor including 9-of-19 from three and shot 88 percent at the foul line. They forced 14 Laker turnovers which they turned into 17 points. Fuller led all scorers with 21 points while Enright and Sandquist added 11 points each. West finished with nine points and seven rebounds.
Donovan Vickers had a game-high six assists.
Grand Valley shot 46 percent (24-for-52) from the field in the contest, it was 7-of-21 from three and shot 85 percent at the foul line. The Lakers outrebounded UMSL 27-25 in the contest and outscored them 11-5 in second chance points. Britain Harris had 12 points while Marius Grazulis added 10 points.
The Tritons are back in action on Wednesday afternoon hosting Michigan Tech in the final game of the St. Louis Union Station Hotel Thanksgiving Classic at 3:15 p.m. The Huskies lost to Maryville in the first game on Tuesday 86-77.
