FAYETTE, Iowa -- The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team came up short falling 65-57 against Upper Iowa on Thursday evening at the Dorman Memorial Gymnasium in Fayette, Iowa. The Tritons fall to 14-11, 8-8 in the GLVC while Peacocks improve to 15-8, 10-6 GLVC.
 
Demetris Phillips was UMSL's offense through the first five minutes of the half, scoring all seven points for the Tritons. Phillips added a steal to his collection of a three-point make, two free-throws, and a layup all before the first media timeout.
 
UIU went on a six-point run in the middle of the half, stopped by a Taye Moore driving layup. Both teams struggled to find the basket or extend possessions in the middle of the half, trading misses and defense rebounds.
 
Jayden Creighton and Phillips combined down the stretch to try and close the gap heading into the second half.
 
A Vincent Davis III layup cut the Peacocks lead to six with three minutes left. The Tritons managed to get Davis to the free-throw twice in the final ten seconds of the first half thanks to an offensive rebound by Makeer Makeer. The two points from the free throws sent the Tritons into the locker room trailing 30-24.
 
Upper Iowa jumped out to an 11-point lead to start the second half before the Tritons offense caught up. Makeer hit a three off a Miles Boland steal to cap a five-point run by the Tritons to try and keep the lead within reach.
 
At the midpoint of the half, the Peacocks had a 12-point lead. Phillips scored layups on back-to-back possessions before Makeer added a layup of his own. A minute later Davis added his own back-to-back buckets to cut Upper Iowa's lead to four.
 
The Peacocks answered with four points of their own and then four made free-throws at the five-minute mark to extend the lead back to ten points. A Jake Hamilton layup with 33 seconds left cut the lead to five but the Upper Iowa lead proved substantial enough to outlast the Tritons final push.
 
UMSL shot 41 percent (23-for-56) from the floor but was 2-of-14 from three and shot 50 percent at the foul line. Davis and Makeer led the Tritons with 15 points each in the contest while Phillips added 13 more.
 
Upper Iowa shot 43 percent (23-for-54) from the floor including 6-of-22 from three and 77 percent at the foul line. Kyle Hrncir finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in the contest.
 
UMSL wraps up its road trip on Saturday heading to Quincy, Ill., to take on the Hawks at 3 p.m. at Pepsi Arena.