BOLIVAR, Mo. – The No. 24 University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team took down its second ranked opponent of the season defeating No. 22 Southwest Baptist 70-65 in a battle of unbeaten teams on Monday evening at the Meyer Sports Center in Bolivar, Mo. The Tritons improve to 6-0, 1-0 GLVC while the Bearcats drop to 5-1, 1-1 GLVC.

UMSL never trailed in the contest as it jumped out to a 14-4 lead eight minutes into the contest. The Triton defense was stingy holding SBU to single digits for the first 12 minutes of the game until RJ Crawford hit a three-pointer to cut UMSL's lead to 18-11.

The Tritons extended their lead back to 10 at 22-12 after back-to-back baskets from Victor Nwagbaraocha and Donovan Vickers with 6:17 remaining in the opening stanza.

SBU made a late run in the half cutting the margin to 29-27 after a jumper from Crawford with less than a minute remaining in the half but UMSL got a three from Bowen Sandquist and a layup from Dylan West at the buzzer to take a 34-29 lead into halftime.

The Tritons went 12-for-22 (54.5 percent) from the floor in the frame including 4-of-9 from three and shot 75 percent at the foul line. West and Isaiah Fuller led UMSL with eight points apiece while Vickers and Janeir Harris added five points each.

After a slow start the Bearcats finished the stanza shooting 43.5 percent (10-for-23) from the field, were 2-of-10 from three but did shoot 88 percent at the foul line. Crawford led all scorers with 10 points.

SBU scored the first three points of the second half to cut the Triton lead to 34-32 but UMSL countered with an 11-3 run to push its lead back to 10 after a three-pointer from Matt Enright.

The Tritons extended their lead to as many as 12 at 54-42 with a layup from Nwagbaraocha just past the midway point of the frame.

UMSL went cold over the next five minutes as the Bearcats went an 11-0 run to tie the game at 54 after an old fashioned three-point play from Mitch Ganote with 4:35 remaining.

West snapped the drought with a layup to give the Tritons the lead back on the ensuing possession. Ganote answered on the other end to tie the game back up at 56.

UMSL regained the lead with seven straight points. Fuller hit two free throws, Vickers added a three and West capped the run with a layup.

SBU refused to go away getting a three from Quinn Nelson and then Crawford hit 1-of-2 free throws to cut the lead to three with 0:52 left.

Fuller hit two free throws to extend the lead to five but the Bearcats got a free throw from Drenin Dinkins and then after a steal got two more free throws from Crawford to make it 65-63 with 0:20 remaining.

Enright missed the front end of a one-and-one and SBU got the rebound. Nelson had a look at a go-ahead three-pointer from the top of the key with 0:09 left but it was too strong and Trever Moore came down with the rebound and was fouled.

Moore hit 1-of-2 free throws to extend the lead to 66-63 with 0:06 to go.

After a timeout, Ganote was fouled and hit the first free throw and tried to miss the second but his shot didn't hit the rim and possession went back to the Tritons.

Fuller was fouled and hit both free throws to make it a four-point lead. After another foul, Bayley Crawford made 1-of-2 at the foul line to make it a one possession game again.

The Bearcats were forced to foul and sent Mayson Quartlebaum to the line where he hit both free throws to seal the victory.

UMSL finished the game shooting 47 percent (23-for-49) from the floor, was 8-of-23 from three and shot 76 percent at the foul line. Fuller led three Tritons in double figures with 16 points while West finished with 12 points and Quartlebaum added 10 more.

SBU shot 42 percent (20-for-48) from the field in the game including 5-of-19 from three but shot only 69 percent (20-for-29) at the charity stripe. It outrebounded UMSL 35-to-24 in the contest. RJ Crawford finished with a game-high 19 points to lead the Bearcats. He was joined in double figures by Ganote with 15 and Nelson added 12 more.

The Tritons begin a three-game homestand on Thursday (Dec. 1) hosting Drury at 7:30 p.m. at the Mark Twain Building. The Panthers dropped their fourth straight on Monday with an 82-79 loss to Missouri S&T.