ST. LOUIS – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball had its four-game winning streak snapped with an 86-76 loss to Illinois Springfield in the Great Lakes Valley Conference opener for both teams on Saturday afternoon at the Mark Twain Building. The Tritons drop to 4-3, 0-1 GLVC while the Prairie Stars improve to 4-2, 1-0 GLVC.

UMSL jumped out to an early four-point lead but were unable to hold UIS's three-point shooting in check as the Prairie Stars hit five of their first six attempts and build a seven-point lead with 6:32 remaining in the opening half.

The Tritons outscored 8-5 over the next 3:13, getting three points from Anthony Medlock and two each from Taye Moore and Miles Boland to cut the deficit to four points but couldn't get over the hump as UIS closed the half scoring nine of the final 15 points to take a 43-36 lead into the locker room at the half.

UMSL opened the second half on a 10-6 run to cut the Prairie Star lead to 49-46 on two free throws from Boland and had four chances to pull within one or tie the game but couldn't get the shots to drop.

UIS took advantage with seven quick points to extend its lead to 10 points but the Tritons fought scoring six straight points to cut the margin to 56-52 with 11:35 left in the contest.

UMSL just couldn't get over the hump as the Prairie Stars countered with a 10-3 run to build an 11-point cushion and the Tritons wouldn't get closer than eight points the rest of the game.

UMSL had no answer for Alex Stell who finished with 19 points, 15 rebounds and three assists while Isaiah Davis added 19 points as well. Tye Banks and Jordan Rice contributed 14 and 13 points respectively.

UIS finished the game shooting 56 percent (30-for-54) from the field including 9-of-15 from three and shot 68 percent at the foul line. It outrebounded the Tritons 38-to-25 including 11-8 on the offensive glass and held a 17-to-11 edge in second chance points.

The Tritons shot 47 percent (30-for-64) from the floor in the contest but were 7-of-24 from three and shot 75 percent at the foul line. Moore finished with a game-high 20 points and was joined in double figures by Boland with 14 points and Jake Hamilton added 10 points.

UMSL begins a three-game road trip on Monday (Dec. 1) against crosstown rival Maryville at 7:30 p.m. at Moloney Arena.