FAYETTE, Iowa – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team jumped out to an early 10-point lead as it hit 10 of its first 16 shots but couldn't maintain the momentum and ended up falling to GLVC league leader Upper Iowa 81-68 on Thursday evening at Dorman Memorial Gymnasium in Fayette, Iowa.

The Tritons drop to 8-12, 6-6 GLVC while the Peacocks improve to 14-5, 9-2 GLVC.

UMSL led 16-6 eight minutes into the game after a layup from Mayson Quartlebaum. The Tritons still led by seven nearly halfway through the opening stanza when the Peacocks went on a 16-2 run over the next four-plus minutes to build a seven-point lead on a three-pointer from Jake Hilmer.

The two sides traded baskets over the final six-plus minutes of the half and Upper Iowa went into the locker room with a five-point lead at the half.

The Peacocks extended their halftime lead to nine early in the second half but UMSL fought back closing to within four after a jumper from Matt Enright with less than 16 minutes remaining. That would be the closest the Tritons got the rest of the way as Upper Iowa used a 16-4 run over the next five minutes to build a 16-point advantage after a three-pointer from Christian Haffner with 10:53 to play.

The Peacocks led by as many as 17 points late in the contest after a three-pointer from Nick Reid with less than four minutes left in the contest.

UMSL shot an even 50 percent (29-for-58) from the field in the contest but was only 3-of-12 from three and shot 50 percent at the foul line. It outrebounded Upper Iowa 40-to-26 for the game and had a 15-1 advantage in second chance points.

Enright led four Tritons in double figures with 18 points while Quartlebaum added 13 and Savon Wykle and Emanuel Prospere II had 10 points apiece. Troy Glover II had a game-high 11 rebounds.

The Peacocks shot slightly better connecting on 50.8 percent (31-of-61) of their attempts from the floor including 8-for-19 from three and shot 73 percent at the charity stripe. Hilmer led all scorers with 23 points and was joined in double figures by Noah King with 16 points.

UMSL wraps up its two-game road trip against Truman State on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. at Pershing Arena in Kirksville, Mo.