ST. LOUIS – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team late rally came up short in a 65-62 loss to Maryville on Saturday afternoon at the Mark Twain Building. The Tritons drop to 8-11, 6-5 GLVC while the Saints improve to 9-8, 5-6 GLVC.

UMSL led by as many as six in the first half but Maryville rallied to take a 31-30 lead on a three-pointer from Ari Jackson with less than two minutes to play in the frame. The Tritons regained the lead on their next possession as Emanuel Prospere II scored on a jumper in the paint to make it 32-31. Neither side scored for the final 75 seconds of the frame as the teams went to the locker room with UMSL leading by one at the break.

The Saints started the second half hot from the three-point line as their first four made field goals were all from three during a 14-6 run that gave them a seven-point advantage six-plus minutes into the stanza.

The Tritons cut it to five on the next possession as Mayson Quartlebaum scored on a jumper in the paint but Maryville scored seven of the next eight points to grab its largest lead of the afternoon at 52-41 on a jumper from Tutu Chisholm with 10:30 remaining.

UMSL scored six straight points to pull within five but once again the Saints countered as Luke Williams scored the next five points giving Maryville a 57-47 lead with less than seven minutes to play.

The Tritons trailed by nine with five minutes remaining when they began their late rally. Quartlebaum started the run with a free throw and then Troy Glover II hit a layup to make it a six-point game.

Williams stretched it back to eight with another jumper in the paint but Matt Enright countered with two free throws to pull back within six with 2:31 left.

Neither side scored for the next 77 seconds until Williams hit 1-of-2 at the foul line to stretch the lead back to seven. Enright countered on the other end hitting a shot in the paint to pull UMSL within five with 1:04 to go.

The Tritons fouled Williams and sent him to the line again where he made 1-of-2 to make it six-point game. Enright hit a pull-up three on the next possession to make it one-possession game with 0:50 remaining.

UMSL got a stop on the defensive end as Trey Reed turned the ball over with 0:19 left giving the Tritons a chance to tie the game. Terrell Kabala's three-point attempt was off the mark and JT Morgan grabbed the rebound with 2.5 seconds left.

Morgan was called for a foul on the play as he elbowed Quartlebaum in the face which gave the Tritons the ball back and one more chance to tie but the ball was knocked away from Quartlebaum and he was unable to get away before the buzzer.

UMSL shot 48 percent (24-for-50) from the field including 5-of-13 from three and shot 69 percent at the foul line. It outrebounded Maryville 35-to-21 but 15 Triton turnovers resulted in 22 points for the Saints. Enright led UMSL with 16 points while Quartlebaum added 15 points. Glover II finished with 11 rebounds.

Maryville shot 47.9 percent (23-for-48) from the floor including 11-of-23 from beyond the arc but also struggled at the foul line making only 53 percent of its attempts. Williams led all scorers with 20 points of the bench and was joined in double figures by Chisholm with 10 points.

UMSL returns to the court next Thursday (Feb. 1) as it travels to Fayette, Iowa, to take on GLVC leading Upper Iowa at 7:30 p.m.