ST. LOUIS -- The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team came up short in a close matchup with Truman State, 79-75 on Thursday evening at the Mark Twain Building. The Tritons drop to 15-12, 9-9 GLVC while the Bulldogs improve to 11-14, 8-9 GLVC.

UMSL scored the first seven points in the half, starting with a layup by Miles Boland followed by five-points from Vincent Davis III. Truman answered with a five-point run of their own before Demetris Phillips scored a layup to reestablish a four-point lead.

Both teams went quiet in the middle of the half with the Bulldogs scoring two free throws and a jump shot before Jake Hamilton answered with a three-point make to reestablish the Triton lead.

The two sides traded free-throw makes and layups to keep the score within three. Back-to-back layup makes by Hamilton kept UMSL up two with five minutes left in the half. The Bulldogs answered with an eight-point run before Taye Moore buried a three-pointer make to tie the score at 33 with two minutes left.

Down three near the end of the half, Hamilton nailed a three to send the Tritons into the locker room tied at 36.

It was a slow start for UMSL in the second half giving up six quick points before Boland scored a layup to get the Tritons on the board. Truman answered with back-to-back three-point makes, forcing UMSL to take a timeout.

A dunk by Makeer Makeer off a Boland steal gave UMSL life with just over 11 minutes to go, cutting the Bulldogs lead to five.

The Tritons and Bulldogs traded baskets down the stretch, with UMSL cutting the lead to seven before Truman made a basket to stretch the lead back to nine.

With three minutes left, Moore hit a three cutting Truman's lead to six. Phillips scored a layup on the next play after a defensive rebound by Makeer. Then Boland forced a turnover and was fouled on his layup attempt, making both free throws cutting the Bulldog lead to two.

UMSL kept it close with Moore hitting a three-pointer with 23 seconds left but four Truman free-throws kept the Tritons at bay. Makeer made a consolation layup at the buzzer to end the game 79-75.

UMSL ended the game shooting 46 percent (26-for-57) from the floor, was 7-of-19 from three but shot 62 percent at the foul line. It was outrebounded 42-to-32 in the contest and gave up 16 second chance points.

All five Triton starters reached double figures in scoring led by Moore with 15 points while Boland added 14 points and six assists and three steals.

The Bulldogs shot 42 percent (25-for-59) from the field including 5-of-17 from three and shot 89 percent at the foul line. Julian Brown was one of five Truman players to reach double figures in scoring with a team-high 14 points.

UMSL hosts William Jewell in its final home game of the regular season on Saturday starting at 3 p.m. at the Mark Twain Building. The team will honor its lone senior, Blessed Barhayiga, prior to the start of the game.