Wisconsin Dells, Wis. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team came up short in a 64-60 loss to Northern Michigan on Friday afternoon at the JustAGame Fieldhouse in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. The Tritons drop to 0-2 while the Wildcats move to 2-2.
UMSL came out of the gates hot hitting five of its first six shots from the field to take a 12-0 lead four minutes into the contest.
Miles Boland had four points while
Jared Jackson and
Jake Hamilton each hit three-pointers.
Northern Michigan countered with a 19-6 run over the next 12 minutes to take its first lead of the half on a tip-in by George Bellevue.
The answered with a 5-2 run to take a 23-21 lead on a three from
Colby Dolphin but the Wildcats scored the final six points of the half to take a 27-23 lead into the locker room.
UMSL opened the second half on a 7-2 run to retake the lead on a dunk from
Rashad Smith. With the game tied at 34, the Tritons went on a 7-0 surge behind four points from Hamilton and three from
Makeer Makeer to grab its largest lead of the second half at 41-34 with less than 12 minutes to play.
Once again, NMU answered thanks to a 12-4 run that saw it take 46-45 lead on a tip-in by Brooks Hinson.
UMSL's final lead of the contest came on a three from Jackson with 6:30 left but the Wildcats got a three from Pryce Gregoire less than a minute later to take the lead for good.
The Tritons wouldn't get closer than three the rest of the way as NMU held on for the victory.
UMSL shot 40 percent (20-for-50) from the floor, was 5-of-24 from three and shot 75 percent at the foul line.
Boland led the way for the Tritons with a career-high 24 points and was joined in double figures by Hamilton with 11 more.
The Wildcats shot 43 percent (23-for-54) from the field including 8-of-26 from three and shot 67 percent at the foul line. Hinson led NMU with 21 points and was joined in double figures by Gregoire with 14 points and Caden Gustafson finished with 11 points.
UMSL continues its season-opening six-game road trip on Saturday against Michigan Tech at 3 p.m. at the JustAGame Fieldhouse in Wisconsin Dells, Wis.
