NORTH CANTON, OHIO - The 5-seed University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team upset the host and top seed, Walsh University, in convincing fashion Saturday night in the NCAA Division II National Tournament Midwest Region. UMSL went off in the first half, scoring 50 points, and cruised to the 87-58 victory. It was the Tritons second win over Walsh this season, with the first being the very first game of the season at home, 80-76.

The Tritons (26-6) were down by two points when Walsh (24-7) fouled Jose Grubbs on a three-pointer with 16:55 to play in the first half. Grubbs knocked down all three free-throws to put the Tritons up by one. It was all UMSL after that.

The Tritons went on a number of runs in the first half, but their best run came with seven minutes to play before halftime with UMSL leading 26-21. UMSL sparked a 21-4 run started by a Grubbs jumper in the paint and ended by a Grubbs triple with two minutes left in the half to give UMSL a 22-point lead. During that time Walsh burned two timeouts, but could not find an answer for the Triton defense.

With 20 seconds left before the half, Grubbs quieted the home crowd with an and-one to give the Tritons a 50-27 lead at halftime.

The Tritons went on to outscore Walsh 37-31 in the second half and complete the 87-58 upset.

UMSL played near perfect basketball on Saturday. The Tritons shot 49% from the field and knocked down 46% from beyond the arc. UMSL had a 15-to-9 assist-to-turnover ratio and shot 87.5% from the free-throw line. The Tritons forced 16 Cavalier turnovers including 12 steals that led to 20 points off turnovers. Walsh shot 33% from the field and was 3-of-22 from three-point land.

Jose Grubbs led all scorers with 19 points. Yaakema Rose Jr. recorded a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Marty Jackson scored 12 points. Shane Wissink and Marquis Collins both knocked down three triples. Wissink scored 11 points while Collins finished with nine points.

The Tritons have won 12 games in a row. The UMSL record for consecutive wins is 13. The Tritons are also one win away from tying the most wins in a season set two years ago.

This is the Tritons' second trip to the NCAA Division II Tournament Regional Final in program history. 50 years ago, the 1971-72 team hosted and won the Midwest Regional Title before falling to Roanoke in the Elite Eight.

The win advances UMSL to the Midwest Region Final against 3-seed Hillsdale College on Monday night at 7:00 p.m. ET in North Canton, Ohio.