ROLLA, Mo. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team led 75-67 with 1:38 left but Missouri S&T scored the final nine points of the game to defeat the Tritons 76-75 on Thursday evening at Gibson Arena in Rolla, Mo. UMSL falls to 18-6, 10-6 GLVC while the Miners improve to 14-10, 8-8 GLVC.
Matt Enright put the Tritons ahead by eight with two free throws with 98 seconds remaining. S&T cut the lead to six on a layup by Kaden Froebe on the ensuing possession and was fouled by
Trever Moore. Froebe missed the free throw but the Miners got the rebound. Julien Smith hit a deep three from the left wing to cut UMSL's lead to three with 1:15 left.
The Tritons missed a jumper as the shot clock was winding down on the next possession and Dylan Singleton got the rebound. Singleton missed a layup but Froebe got the rebound and put back to trim the lead to one with 0:33 remaining.
UMSL had a chance to extend the lead to three but missed a pull-up jumper with 0:08 left and Lovell Williams got the rebound. Williams raced down the floor and no one picked him as he drove down the right side of the lane and laid the ball in with 1.5 left.
The Tritons had one final chance, but the desperation pass was batted away, and they weren't able to get a shot off before the clock expired.
UMSL led 48-32 at halftime after shooting 56 percent (18-for-32) from the floor including 11-of-15 from three in the first 20 minutes of play. Moore led the Tritons with 11 points in the stanza while
Bowen Sandquist,
Donovan Vickers and
Isaiah Fuller had nine points apiece in the frame.
UMSL was held to 35 percent (10-for-29) shooting in the second half while S&T shot 61 percent (17-for-28) from the field in the stanza.
The Tritons finished the game shooting 46 percent (28-for-61) from the floor, were 12-of-23 from three and shot 88 percent at the foul line. Moore led four UMSL players in double figures with 17 points. Vickers added 16, Fuller had 15 and
Victor Nwagbaraocha finished with 10 points.
The Miners shot 50 percent (29-for-58) for the contest including 10-of-26 from three and were 8-of-12 at the foul line. Smith finished with a game-high 20 points. Ikenna Okeke finished with 15 points, Williams added 13 points. and Froebe had 11 points.
UMSL continues its three-game road trip on Saturday afternoon as it travels to Springfield, Mo., to take on Drury at 3 p.m. at the O'Reilly Family Events Center.
