ST. LOUIS – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team cut a 21-point first half deficit to single digits late in the second half but it wouldn't be enough in its 67-57 loss to Indianapolis on Thursday evening at the Mark Twain Building.

With the loss, the Tritons (12-15, 10-9 GLVC) drop into a tie for sixth with Illinois Springfield in the Great Lakes Valley Conference's Point Rating System which determines the eight teams that advance to next week's GLVC Tournament. UMSL and the Prairie Stars each have a PRS of 3.21 and lead McKendree who currently holds the final spot in the tournament by 0.05 points.

The Tritons were plagued by poor shooting in the first 20 minutes as they made just seven of 26 attempts from the floor including 1-for-9 from three and trailed by as many as 21 points in the final minute of the half before a dunk from Terrell Kabala cut the lead to 37-18 at the break.

UMSL still trailed by 20 points with 11:19 remaining in the contest when it began to climb back into the contest thanks to a 23-11 run over a stretch of 8:30 that saw it close to within eight after Emanuel Prospere II hit one of two free throws.

The Tritons had chances to cut further into the lead but missed three straight shots and the Greyhounds (20-7, 16-3 GLVC) hit all four of their free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.

UMSL shot 56 percent from the floor in the second half to finish the game at 41 percent (21-for-51) but was 4-of-19 from three and shot 69 percent at the foul line. Prospere led the Tritons with 17 points and was joined in double figures by Troy Glover II who finished with a double-double scoring 15 points and grabbing 11 rebounds while Matt Enright added 13 points.

UIndy shot 51 percent (25-for-49) in the contest including 7-of-16 from three and 56 percent at the foul line. Jarvis Walker led all scorers with 25 points while Jesse Bingham added 18 and Kendrick Tchoua finished with 11 more.

The Tritons host Lewis in its final home game of the season on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. at the Mark Twain Building. The Flyers defeated McKendree 87-81 on Thursday evening in Lebanon, Ill.