Matt Enright scored 20 points in UMSL’s come-from-behind win over Drury on Thursday. (Photo: Thomas Grove)
| NCAA Men’s Basketball | 1 | 2 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drury (13-13, 8-11) | 34 | 26 | 60 |
| UMSL (17-10, 15-5) | 25 | 41 | 66 |
DeMarcus Dixon
Staff Writer
NORMANDY, MO — The University of Missouri-St. Louis men’s basketball team closed out the regular season in style on Thursday.
The Tritons trailed for most of the night in their regular season finale against Drury at the Mark Twain Building.
But when UMSL needed its best play in the clutch, it got it, thanks to a 7-0 run in the final two minutes that lifted the Tritons to a 66-60 win over the Panthers.
The victory helped UMSL clinch the No. 2 seed in next week’s Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament, which will be played next Thursday through Sunday at Lindenwood University’s Hyland Arena in St. Charles.
UMSL is 17-10 on the season and finished the regular season with a 15-5 record in GLVC league play. Drury is 13-13 and will close out its season with a home game on Saturday against GLVC regular season champion, Missouri S&T.
Although it knows for certain it has clinched a spot in the GLVC Tournament and that it will be tne No. 2 seed, UMSL won’t know its first round opponent until after this weekend’s final regular season games around the league.
The Tritons will play whoever finished as the No. 7 seed. The most likely teams are Rockhurst or McKendree, who are tied for seventh place heading into the weekend. But should either of those teams lose their finale and Indianapolis, which is in ninth place, wins final game, the Greyhounds would earn a spot in the tournament and could leap as high as seventh to play UMSL.
Emanuel Prospere scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in UMSL’s win over Drury on Thursday. (Photo: Thomas Grove)
On Thursday, UMSL had a rough first half and trailed Drury 34-25 at halftime. But in the second half, the Tritons got red hot and shot 56 percent in the final 20 minutes, which included making five three-pointers.
Junior guard Matt Enright played all 40 minutes and led all scorers with 20 points. He also had four rebounds and dished out six assists.
Teammates Emanuel Prospere and Troy Glover also had big nights for the Tritons. Prospere scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, while Glover had 14 points, 10 rebounds, and blocked three shots.
Drury took its final lead with three minutes to go, when it make a pair of back-to-back layups to go ahead 60-59. UMSL’s Savon Wykle made a free throw to tie the score at 60 with two minutes left.
But the key bucket in the game was a three-pointer by Enright with a minute to go that put UMSL ahead 63-60. The Tritons got stops on Drury’s final two possessions and added free throws to close out the game.
UMSL has now won seven games in a row and nine of its last 10.
The Tritons will play in Game 2 on the first day of the GLVC Tournament. That contest will tip off at 2:15 p.m., next Thursday.
Drury 60
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00 | Hardrick,Colin | * | 38 | 7-15 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 15 |
| 04 | Applegate,Logan | * | 39 | 5-17 | 2-11 | 1-1 | 0-7 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
| 24 | Wakefield,Brock | * | 30 | 6-8 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 12 |
| 55 | Riek,Riek | * | 22 | 3-8 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 4-3 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 08 | Howell,Zach | * | 34 | 1-9 | 1-8 | 2-2 | 1-4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 34 | Gassama,Sekou | 15 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 1-4 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| 02 | Shelton,Quenton | 18 | 1-3 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 23 | Gipson,Kanon | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 35 | Rodgers,Garrett | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2-1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 25-63 | 4-22 | 6-6 | 11-23 | 34 | 16 | 8 | 11 | 0 | 8 | 60 |
UMSL 66
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 03 | Enright, Matt | * | 40 | 8-14 | 4-6 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| 12 | Prospere II, Emanuel | * | 39 | 6-10 | 1-2 | 5-7 | 3-9 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 18 |
| 35 | Glover II, Troy | * | 31 | 7-8 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2-8 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 14 |
| 20 | Wykle, Savon | * | 39 | 3-11 | 2-7 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| 10 | Harris, Janeir | * | 34 | 0-6 | 0-5 | 2-2 | 0-3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 01 | Parker, Quenton | 13 | 1-3 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| 23 | Purvey, Iziah | 4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 25-52 | 8-23 | 8-13 | 7-26 | 33 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 4 | 6 | 66 |
2024-25 UMSL TRITONS MEN’S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
| Date | Time | At | Opponent | Location | Results/W-L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 8, 2024 (Friday) | 2 p.m. | Neutral | Michigan Tech | Wisconsin Dells, Wis. | L 72-57 (0-1) |
| November 9, 2024 (Saturday) | 7 p.m. | Neutral | Northern Michigan | Wisconsin Dells, Wis. | L 77-63 (0-2) |
| November 13, 2024 (Wednesday) | 6 p.m. | Home | Winona State | Mark Twain Building | W 72-62 (0-3) |
| November 21, 2024 (Thursday) | 5:30 p.m. | Neutral | Alabama – Huntsville | Lebanon, Ill. | L 74-63 (0-4) |
| November 22, 2024 (Friday) | 5:30 p.m. | Neutral | Lake Superior State | Lebanon, Ill. | L 59-46 (0-5) |
| November 30, 2024 (Saturday) | 3 p.m. | Away | Illinois-Springfield | Springfield, Ill. | W 69-64 (1-5) |
| December 2, 2024 (Monday) | 7:30 p.m. | Home | Maryville | Mark Twain Building | W 83-53 (2-5) |
| December 5, 2024 (Thursday) | 7:30 p.m. | Home | UIndy | Mark Twain Building | W 66-59 (3-5) |
| December 7, 2024 (Saturday) | 3 p.m. | Home | Lewis | Mark Twain Building | L 81-61 (3-6) |
| December 17, 2024 (Tuesday) | 3 p.m. | Neutral | Pittsburg State | San Antonio, Texas | W 62-58 (4-6) |
| December 18, 2024 (Wednesday) | 1 p.m. | Neutral | Rogers State | San Antonio, Texas | W 67-57 (5-6) |
| January 3, 2025 (Friday) | 7:30 p.m. | Away | Upper Iowa | Fayette, Iowa | W 75-73 (6-6) |
| January 5, 2025 (Sunday) | 3 p.m. | Away | Quincy | Quincy, Ill. | postponed |
| January 9, 2025 (Thursday) | 7:30 p.m. | Home | Southwest Baptist | Mark Twain Building | postponed |
| January 11, 2025 (Saturday) | 3 p.m. | Home | Rockhurst | Mark Twain Building | L 88-71 (6-7) |
| January 13, 2025 (Monday) | 5:30 pm | Home | Southwest Baptist | Mark Twain Building | W 71-65 (7-7) |
| January 16, 2025 (Thursday) | 7:30 p.m. | Away | Lincoln | Jefferson City, Mo. | W 69-51 (8-7) |
| January 18, 2025 (Saturday) | 3 p.m. | Away | #17 Missouri S&T | Rolla, Mo. | L 88-84 (8-8) |
| January 20, 2025 (Monday) | 6 p.m. | Away | Quincy | Quincy, Ill. | L 79-76 (8-9) |
| January 23, 2025 (Thursday) | 7:30 p.m. | Away | Maryville | St. Louis, Mo. | W 91-66 (9-9) |
| January 30, 2025 (Thursday) | 7:30 p.m. | Home | Illinois-Springfield | Mark Twain Building | W 74-66 (10-9) |
| February 1, 2025 (Saturday) | 3 p.m. | Home | McKendree | Mark Twain Building | L 68-66 (10-10) |
| February 6, 2025 (Thursday) | 7:30 p.m. | Away | Lewis | Romeoville, Ill. | W 77-66 (11-10) |
| February 8, 2025 (Saturday) | 2:30 p.m. | Away | UIndy | Indianapolis, Ind. | W 71-70 (12-10) |
| February 13, 2025 (Thursday) | 7:30 p.m. | Home | Quincy | Mark Twain Building | W 85-62 (13-10) |
| February 15, 2025 (Saturday) | 3 p.m. | Home | Upper Iowa | Mark Twain Building | W 70-67 (14-10) |
| February 20, 2025 (Thursday) | 7:30 p.m. | Away | William Jewell | Liberty, Mo. | W 78-77 (15-10) |
| February 22, 2025 (Saturday) | 3 p.m. | Away | Truman State | Kirksville, Mo. | W 86-62 (16-10) |
| February 27, 2025 (Thursday) | 7:30 p.m. | Home | Drury | Mark Twain Building | W 66-60 (17-10) |
| March 6, 2025 (Thursday) | 2:15 p.m. | Neutral | GLVC Tournament | St. Charles, Mo. / Hyland Arena |