FAYETTE, Iowa – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team held off a late rally to defeat Upper Iowa 75-73 for its third straight win on Friday evening at Dorman Gymnasium in Fayette, Iowa. The Tritons improve to 6-6 overall including 4-1 in the GLVC while the Peacocks drop to 8-4, 2-2 GLVC.

UMSL led by as many as nine in the contest after KC Udolisa tipped in a missed three-point attempt by Matt Enright with 8:41 remaining in the first half. UIU pulled to within 27-24 after two free throws from Nick Reid but the Tritons closed the half on a 9-5 run to take a 36-29 lead into the break.

Reid got the Peacocks going in the second half scoring 16 of their first 18 points to take their first lead of the game. UIU opened the frame on an 18-6 run to grab its largest lead of the night at 47-42 after a three from Reid with 13:59 remaining.

UMSL was able to shut Reid down the rest of the way holding him without a field goal and just three free throws over the final 13-plus minutes.

The two sides went back-and-forth over the next seven minutes as the Tritons built a six-point lead after back-to-back threes from Enright but an 8-2 run by the Peacocks allowed them to regain the lead at 61-59 after a three-pointer from Ryan Heise with 6:23 left.

Enright's third three of the half gave UMSL a 62-61 lead 0:47 later and his three sparked a 13-4 run that saw the Tritons take their largest lead of the second half at 72-65 with 2:18 to go on a layup from Emanuel Prospere II.

Upper Iowa wouldn't go quietly hitting five of six free throws over the next 2:12 to pull within 72-71 after Heise made one of two free throws with a chance to tie the game with 8.5 seconds remaining.

Enright was fouled on the next possession and hit both free throws to extend the lead to 74-71 with 0:06 left.

The Peacocks got the ball across half court and UMSL chose to foul sending Gavin Hershberger to the line for two free throws. Hershberger hit both free throws with 0:04 to play to pull within one.

Needing to foul, Upper Iowa fouled Janeir Harris who hit one of two at the stripe to put the Tritons ahead 75-73 with 3.5 seconds left.

After a timeout, Kyle Hrncir raced the length of the floor and appeared to hit a layup at the buzzer to force overtime but after review the basket was waved off sealing the win for UMSL.

The Tritons shot 44 percent (29-for-66) from the field in the contest including 6-of-17 from three and shot 79 percent at the foul line. They had five players reach double figures in scoring led by Prospere II with 21 points and 10 rebounds while Enright finished with 16 points. Savon Wykle added 12 and Harris and Iziah Purvey finished with 11 points each.

Upper Iowa was held to 36 percent (23-for-64) shooting in the contest, were 11-of-29 from three and shot 80 percent at the foul line. Reid finished with a game-high 33 points and 12 rebounds while Heise added 13 points.

UMSL's scheduled game against Quincy on Sunday (Jan. 5) has been postponed due to the expected winter storm. The Tritons are back in action on Thursday (Jan. 9) hosting Southwest Baptist at 7:30 p.m. at the Mark Twain Building.