ST. LOUIS – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team picked up its second straight win defeating McKendree 81-69 on Saturday afternoon at the Melvin Price Convocation Center in Lebanon, Ill.

With the win the Tritons improve to 12-14 including 10-8 in the GLVC while the Bearcats drop to 15-10, 9-9 GLVC.

The two sides went back-and-forth over the first 10 minutes of the contest with seven lead changes. UMSL trailed by one when Matt Enright hit a three to put the Tritons up two and sparked a 10-0 run that gave UMSL its largest lead of the half at 24-15 after a layup from Terrell Kabala with less than seven minutes to go in the frame.

The Tritons still led by nine with less than four minutes but McKendree closed the half on a 7-2 run to cut UMSL's lead to four at the intermission.

The Bearcats carried that momentum into the second half outscoring the Tritons 12-7 over the first six minutes to take its first lead since early in the contest after two free throws from Caleb Zurliene.

The lead would be short lived as Savon Wykle hit a three on the other end igniting a 9-0 run highlighted by Troy Glover II's dunk on the break to give UMSL a seven-point lead. It was a lead it wouldn't relinquish.

McKendree got within three with 6:14 remaining after a layup from Carson Parker but the Tritons hit several big shots down the stretch as they outscored the Bearcats 19-10 over the final 5:47 to secure the victory.

UMSL shot 58 percent (18-for-31) from the floor in the second half and finished the game shooting 55 percent (32-of-58) from the floor, including 9-of-23 from three and 67 percent at the foul line. The Tritons outrebounded the Bearcats 32-to-26.

Enright led four UMSL players in double figures in scoring with a game-high 23 points. Emanuel Prospere II added 17 points, Wykle had 15 points and Glover II recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

McKendree shot 53 percent (28-for-53) from the floor in the game but was held to just 5-of-17 shooting from three and 73 percent at the foul line. Milos Vicentic, the GLVC's second leading scorer, was held to seven points in the contest. Zurliene led the Bearcats with 18 points and was joined in double figures by Hayden Meakes with 13 points while Parker and Joey Niesman added 12 points each.

The Tritons begin their final homestand of the season next Thursday (Feb. 29) against Indianapolis at 7:30 p.m. at the Mark Twain Building.