ST. LOUIS – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team let a 15-point second half lead slip away in a 68-66 loss to McKendree on Saturday afternoon at the Mark Twain Building. The Tritons drop to 10-10, 8-5 GLVC while the Bearcats improve to 10-10, 7-6 GLVC.

UMSL jumped out to an early 7-2 lead but McKendree responded with 13 straight to take its largest lead of the game at 15-7 on a jumper from Rini Harris at the 12:59 mark.

The Tritons cut the margin to three but the Bearcats answered scoring six of the next seven points to regain its eight-point advantage. They still led by eight with less than six minutes to play in the half when UMSL got hot from the floor.

Matt Enright ignited a 16-0 run with a layup and a three while Janeir Harris also added a layup and a three to send the Tritons into the locker room with a 37-29 lead at the break.

UMSL carried that momentum into the second half scoring 14 of the first 21 points to build its largest lead of the game on a three from Enright with 14:36 to go.

McKendree chipped away at the lead scoring the next nine points to pull within six on a layup from Joey Niesman three minutes later.

The Tritons stretched their lead back to double digits on a layup from Emanuel Prospere II with 7:37 remaining. UMSL would be held to two points over the next four minutes as the Bearcats used a 10-0 run, all coming from Hayden Meakes, to tie the game at 59. Meakes hit three treys and a free throw in the run.

The Tritons retook the lead 61-59 after two free throws from Savon Wykle but that would be their last lead as McKendree scored six straight to grab a 65-61 lead with 1:29 to play.

UMSL had a chance to tie the game with 0:27 left by Wykle missed the back end of a 1-and-1. Niesman got the rebound and went to the line sinking both free throws to extend the margin to three.

Prospere answered on the other end hitting a driving layup with 0:13 to go.

After Luka Mateski went 1-for-2 at the line, the Tritons had one final chance but Prospere's three from the left corner at the buzzer was short and the Bearcats got the rebound.

The Tritons shot 53 percent (25-for-47) from the field including 8-of-18 from three but shot just 50 percent at the foul line. They outrebounded McKendree 31-to-27 in the contest. Troy Glover II finished with game-highs in points (17) and rebounds (15). He was joined in double figures by Harris with 15 points while Enright and Wykle finished with 13 and 12 points respectively.

The Bearcats shot 46 percent (25-for-54) from the floor, were 11-of-27 from three and shot 70 percent at the foul line. Kevin Stein led McKendree with 16 points while Meakes added 15 off the bench and Niesman added 12.  The Bearcats had the decided advantage in bench points 30-0.

UMSL returns to the court next Thursday (Feb. 6) as it travels to Romeoville, Ill., to take on the Lewis Flyers at 7:30 p.m. from Neil Carey Arena.