ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball came up short in a 71-63 loss against Missouri Western in the D2CCA Tip-Off Classic at the St. Joseph Civic Arena in St. Joseph, Mo. The Tritons drop to 0-2 while the Griffons move to 1-1.

UMSL took an early lead on a three-pointer from Taye Moore but scoring was a challenge for both teams in the early going as there were just seven points scored in the first six-plus minutes of the game.

MWSU went on a 6-2 run to build a three-point lead but the Tritons got to within after a layup from Moore at the 11:55 mark.

UMSL's offense went cold over the next four minutes as the Griffons went on a 14-0 run to extend the lead to 15 points.

The Tritons closed the half on a 17-8 run to pull within six at the half.

UMSL pulled to within four early in the second half on a field goal from Jayden Creighton but MWSU countered with a 9-2 run to stretch its lead to 11.

The Tritons battled, cutting the deficit to four a couple of times but were unable to get over the hump as the Griffons had an answer every time UMSL made a run.

MWSU iced the game at the foul line in the final minute for the final margin.

The Tritons shot 46 percent (26-for-56) from the field in the contest including 6-of-17 from three but shot 56 percent at the foul line. The two teams were tied in rebounds with 39 each but UMSL turned the ball over 20 times to the Griffons seven resulting in a 15-8 advantage in points off turnovers for MWSU.

Creighton led the Tritons with 12 points while Quenton Parker added 11 off the bench. Vincent Davis was tied for the game-high with nine rebounds and Miles Boland finished with seven assists.

UMSL returns to the court on Friday (Nov. 14) traveling to Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin for the JustAGame Classic against Michigan Tech at 1 p.m. at the JustAGame Fieldhouse.