QUINCY, Ill. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team withstood a second half rally to defeat Quincy 74-64 at Pepsi on Saturday afternoon in Quincy, Ill. The Tritons improve to 15-11, 9-8 GLVC while the Hawks drop to 9-15, 4-12 GLVC.

The first 20 minutes was a tale of two halves as Quincy knocked down nine of its first 12 shots from the field while UMSL was held to 5-of-14 shooting. The fast start for the Hawks allowed them to build their largest lead of the contest at 22-13 after a layup from Tiernan Stynes at the halfway point of the frame.

The momentum shifted on the next Triton possession as Demetris Phillips ignited a 10-0 run with back-to-back layups. Miles Boland capped the run with a three-pointer giving UMSL its first lead since early in the game.

The two sides traded the next 11 points but a three-pointer from Taye Moore gave UMSL the lead for good and sparked a 16-3 run over the final 4:45 of the half to give the Tritons a 42-30 lead at the break.

Both teams struggled getting its offense going over the first part of the second half as UMSL maintained its 12-point lead.

Quincy got as close as four thanks to a 14-6 run over the next five-plus minutes but Boland silenced the crowd with a jumper to put the Tritons back up by six. His jumper sparked a 9-0 run over the next 2:20 and the Hawks wouldn't get closer than eight points the rest of the way.

Phillips provided the dagger burying a three with 75 seconds left to match UMSL's largest lead of the game at 13 points.

Quincy got two free throws from Ethan Bolton and a three from Camren Kincaid in the final minute of play but it wouldn't be enough as Boland hit two free throws with 0:16 left to seal the victory.

UMSL shot 50 percent (27-for-54) from the floor in the contest including 7-of-17 from three and shot 77 percent at the foul line. It forced 13 turnovers in the contest including eight steals and outscored the Hawks 34-to-24 in points in the paint.

Moore and Phillips led the Tritons with 18 points apiece while Makeer Makeer and Boland added 13 and 10 points respectively. Blessed Barhayiga proved a spark off the bench in the first half scoring six of his eight points.

Quincy shot 34 percent (20-for-59) from the field but was 5-of-22 from three and shot 79 percent at the foul line. It outrebounded UMSL 40-to-32 but its bench was outscored by the Tritons 23-0.

Jakeb Wallingford had a game-high 21 points to lead the Hawks while Kincaid added 16 and Bolton finished with 15.

The Tritons begin their final homestand of the season next Thursday (February 19) hosting Truman State at 7:30 p.m. on Chuck Smith Court at the Mark Twain Building.