NORTH CANTON, OHIO - The 5-seed University of Missouri-St. Louis played in and won their first NCAA Division II National Tournament game in 34 years. UMSL picked up their first win of the season over 4-seed Truman State University when it mattered most. The Tritons won their first round game of the Midwest Regional Tournament 73-68.

On Mar. 11, 1988 Rich Meckfessel coached UMSL to a 68-63 first round win in the NCAA Division II National Tournament over South Dakota State University. Exactly 34 years later, Bob Sundvold led the Tritons (25-6) to a 73-68 first round win in the 2022 NCAA DII Tournament over Truman State. The Tritons are just two years removed from the COVID-19 pandemic stopping their NCAA DII Tournament before it even started.

The game was highly contested. The two teams traded the lead 10 times and the game was tied on 11 different occasions.

The Tritons shot 40% from the field, but capitalized on the offensive glass with 18 offensive boards and 18 second chance points.

Truman State (20-10) hit 49% of their shots from the field. The Bulldogs ran into trouble in the turnover category. TSU turned the ball over 15 times leading to 21 points for the Tritons.

Six Tritons scored in double digits with Shane Wissink leading the way. Wissink had 15 points including three triples. Marquis Collins scored 12 points off the bench. Yaakema Rose Jr. scored 10 points and dished out four assists. Marty Jackson scored 10 and grabbed nine rebounds. Steve Webb also scored 10 points and finished with six boards. Isaiah Fuller had 10 points off the bench as well and nabbed five steals.

UMSL relied heavily on their seniors and they were up to the challenge. The Triton seniors scored 51 of the 73 points scored. Rose Jr. and Wissink were clutch from the charity stripe, making four free throws in the final minute of play to seal the win.

It was UMSL's first win against Truman State since Jan. 17, 2019 in Kirksville, Mo. Since that date, the Bulldogs had won five straight games over the Tritons entering tonight.

UMSL is currently on an 11-game winning streak spanning back to Feb. 7.

The Tritons advance to play the top seed and host of the NCAA DII Tournament Midwest Region, Walsh University. The second round game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Mar. 12 in North Canton, Ohio on the campus of Walsh.