SAN ANTONIO – It wasn't easy but the University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team extended its winning streak to three thanks to a late flurry to defeat Texas A&M-Kingsville 61-56 on Tuesday in the River City Classic at Northside ISD Sports Gym In San Antonio. The Tritons improve to 8-4 while the Javelinas drop to 5-4.

UMSL led the entire first half as Taye Moore got the scoring started with a three less than a minute into the contest. Offense was tough to come by over the first six minutes as the two teams were a combined 1-for-12 from the floor.

The Triton offense got hot hitting four out of five field goals including three threes to take a 16-6 lead. Colby Dolphin and Jake Hamilton combined for 11 of those points. UMSL's lead grew to as many as 14 in the frame with less than four minutes to go in the stanza on a hook shot from Blessed Barhayiga.

TAMK cut the deficit to seven thanks to seven straight points from Allen Singleton and two more from TJ Ford Jr., but the Tritons finished the half on a 6-0 run to take a 13-point lead into the break.

UMSL shot 41 percent (9-for-22) from the field in the first 20 minutes including 4-of-10 from three and shot 83 percent at the foul line. Hamilton led the Tritons with seven points while Dolphin and Barhayiga dropped in six each and Moore and Vincent Davis III added five apiece.

The Javelinas were held to 16 percent (5-for-32) shooting in the stanza including 2-of-11 from three and shot 44 percent at the foul line. They outrebounded UMSL 26-19 in the stanza.

UMSL scored six of the first nine points in the second half to extend its lead to 16 two minutes into the frame. The Tritons went cold from the floor for over three minutes allowing A&M-Kingsville to cut the lead to single digits with 15 minutes left.

UMSL extended its lead back to double digits but the Javelinas chipped away cutting the Triton lead to 46-43 with 9:13 to go. Moore put UMSL back up by five with a pull-up jumper on its next possession.

That basket was the last one for the Tritons for almost six minutes as A&M-Kingsville ran off seven points in a row to take its first lead of the game on a three-point shot from Ford Jr.

Davis broke the scoreless spell with a layup at the 3:07 mark to it at 50 but Bryce Smith tipped in his own miss to give the Javelinas their final lead of the game.

Hamilton hit a three to give UMSL the lead back but a free throw from Smith knotted the game at 53. The Tritons took the lead for good on a layup from Davis with less than two minutes remaining. His layup sparked an 8-0 run for UMSL which proved to be the difference in the contest.

The Javelinas got a three from Ford Jr. in the final minute but wouldn't get any closer than that as they turned the ball over and had a layup blocked on their final possession.

UMSL finished the game shooting 44 percent (19-for-43) from the field including 5-of-18 from three and won the game at the foul line shooting 86 percent (18-for-21). Hamilton led the Tritons with 14 points and was joined in double figures by Makeer Makeer and Davis with 12 and 10 points respectively.

After its woeful shooting in the first half, Texas A&M-Kingsville heated up in the second half to finish the game at 29 percent (17-for-59) from the floor including 6-of-19 from three but shot just 49 percent at the foul line. Ford Jr. was one of four Javelinas to reach double figures in scoring with 14 points. Singleton, Smith and Turner had 13, 12 and 10 points respectively.

The Tritons play their final game in the River City Classic on Wednesday against Dallas Baptist at 3 p.m. at the Northside ISD Sports Gym in San Antonio.