ST. LOUIS – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team bent but didn't break in its 61-56 win over Parkside on Saturday afternoon at the Mark Twain Building. The Tritons move to 7-4 while the Rangers drop to 3-4.

Parkside's only lead of the game came 0:22 into the contest as Paxton Warden hit 1-of-2 free throws. UMSL took the lead getting threes from Taye Moore and Jake Hamilton to grab an early five-point advantage.

That lead grew to 10 after a pair of free throws from Moore but the Rangers, despite their shooting woes, battled back to cut UMSL's lead to seven at the half.

Josiah Palmer and Luka Mateski kept Parkside in the game combining for 14 points.

Moore had seven first-half points for the Tritons with Miles Boland and Hamilton contributing six and five points respectively.

The Rangers came out firing in the first five minutes of the second half scoring nine of the first 11 points to cut UMSL's advantage to 31-30 on a three-pointer from Palmer.

The Tritons stretched the lead back out to seven with less than nine minutes remaining on a three from Hamilton but Parkside kept scrapping away tying the game behind seven straight points from Ethan Ivan in the span of 67 seconds. He hit a three to cut the margin to four and then converted a four-point play to even the score.

UMSL retook the lead on the ensuing possession. Makeer Makeer missed a shot in the paint but Demetris Phillips got the offensive rebound and kicked it to Boland at the top of the key for the go-ahead three with 6:51 remaining.

The Rangers cut it to one on their next possession but couldn't get over the hump as Makeer scored five straight points in the span of 1:15 to give the Tritons a six-point cushion. Parkside wasn't done though as Logan Zahour hit a three and then Warden hit a layup in the paint to make it one-point game with 1:43 to go.

Makeer had another answer burying a three in front of UMSL's bench to extend the margin to four and then Hamilton hit two free throws with 0:35. Ivan hit his third triple of the half to make it a one possession game with 0:24 remaining.

After a timeout, the Tritons broke the Rangers pressure and Makeer slammed it home to ice the game.

UMSL finished the game shooting 40 percent (23-for-58) from floor including 7-of-17 from three and shot 80 percent at the foul line. It outrebounded Parkside 39-to-32 and outscored them 16-4 in points off turnovers.

Hamilton finished with a double-double registering game-highs in points (14) and rebounds (11) while Boland and Makeer added 12 points apiece. Boland also added five assists and five steals.

The Rangers ended the game shooting 36 percent (19-for-53) from the field including 9-of-30 from three and shot 69 percent at the foul line. Zahour led Parkside with 13 points while Palmer and Ivan added 11 and 10 points respectively. Fawaz Surakat had 10 rebounds for the Rangers.

The Tritons head to San Antonio next week for the River City Classic starting on Tuesday. They'll take on Texas A&M-Kingsville in their first game on Tuesday (Dec. 16) at the Northside ISD Sports Gym at 3 p.m.