WINONA, Minn. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team cut a 12-point second half deficit to just three points with 2:30 to play but couldn't complete the comeback in a 74-67 at Winona State on Thursday evening. The Tritons drop to 1-2 while the Warriors improve to 3-0.

UMSL got off to a good start hitting five of its first seven shots from the floor and led 17-14 with 10:37 left in the opening half after a layup by Christian Meeks. That would be the Tritons last lead as they missed their next five shots while Winona State countered with 10 straight points over the next 3:16 to take a 24-17 lead after a jumper from Connor Drew on the break.

UMSL cut the deficit to three on a dunk by Troy Glover II with 3:10 left in the stanza but the Warriors closed the half on an 8-3 run to take a 35-27 lead into the locker room at the break.

The Tritons began the second half scoring eight of the first 10 points to cut the Winona lead to 37-35 on a three-pointer from Emanuel Prospere II just over two minutes into the stanza.

The Warriors stretched their lead to double digits and led by as many as 12 at 64-52 after Ty Borowski went 1-of-2 at the foul line with 6:39 to play in the contest.

UMSL got hot over the next four minutes going on an 11-2 run to get within three. Prospere, Matt Enright and Terrell Kabala each hit a three during the run.

The Tritons had a chance to tie the game with 1:39 to go but Enright missed a three and then Gavyn Hurley hit two free throws at the other end to make it a five-point game with 1:17 left. Winona hit 5-of-8 free throws in the span of 55 seconds to extend its lead back to eight.

UMSL wouldn't get closer than six points the rest of the contest.

The Tritons finished the game shooting 44 percent (21-for-48) from the floor including 11-of-22 from three and shot 93 percent at the foul line. Kabala led four players in double figures with 17 points while Enright chipped in with 13 and Prospere and Kris O'Neal II had 10 points apiece.

The difference in the game was UMSL turned the ball over 11 times to just two for the Warriors. Winona finished with a 13-3 advantage in points off turnovers.

The Warriors shot 41 percent (22-for-54) from the floor, was 8-of-28 from three and shot 79 percent at the charity stripe. Connor Dillon finished with a game-high 25 points while Brock Voigt added 10 points.

The Tritons continue their season opening six-game road swing on Saturday taking on Michigan Tech at 12 p.m. (CST) in Houghton, Mich.