UMSL’s Demetris Phillips (23) makes a key block shot in the Tritons’ win over Wisconsin-Parkside on Saturday. (Photo: Ellie Parker)
| NCAA Men’s Basketball | 1 | 2 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin-Parkside (3-4) | 21 | 35 | 56 |
| UMSL (7-4) | 28 | 33 | 61 |
NORMANDY, MO — The University of Missouri-St. Louis men’s basketball team delivered one of its best defensive efforts of the season and earned itself a 61-56 victory over Wisconsin-Parkside in a non-conference NCAA Division II matchup, Saturday afternoon at the Mark Twain Building.
Parkside scored the first points of the game, when it made one-of-two free throws 22 seconds in. But UMSL responded by making a pair of three-pointers on its next two possessions to take the lead and never trailed again, as the Tritons controlled the action for the rest of the game.
UMSL led by as many as 10 points in the first half and 12 points early in the second, as it cruised to its third victory in its last four games.
“I was really proud of the defensive effort our guys delivered today,” UMSL head coach Bob Sunvold said. “We really did a good job of forcing them to take tough shots. We didn’t have the best shooting day ourselves. But we did enough to build a good lead and not let them come back against us.”
Parkside did manage to tie the game midway through the second half, but UMSL immediately re-took the lead and maintained it throughout the rest of the game.
“We didn’t shoot great, not like we know we can,” Sunvold said. “That’s how they were able to come back on us. But our guys stayed patient and didn’t panic just because (Parkside) made a couple of shots. We just kept executing like we know we can and that’s how we put the game away.”
Parkside tied the score at 46 with just over seven minutes remaining. UMSL responded with a three-pointer by freshman Miles Boland and a pair of free throws and a three-pointer by junior Makeer Makeer to go back up by six.
The Triton defense held Parkside to just five points in the final four minutes of the game to maintain its lead. UMSL forced three steals and six missed shots in the final segment of the game. Parkside never got closer than three points the rest of the way.
“We knew our best shot was if we could force them to take tough shots the rest of the way,” Sunvold said. “Over those final three or four minutes, I don’t think we let them have anything easy. That proved to be the difference. We forced them to take nothing but tough shots down the stretch.”
Boland finished with 12 points, five assists, and five steals, while teammate Jake Hamilton led the way with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Makeer came off the bench to add 12 points and eight rebounds for the Tritons, who are now 7-4 on the season.
Parkside, which had won two in a row before Saturday, fell to 3-4 this year.
UMSL will now travel to San Antonio next week to play in the River City Holiday Classic. The Tritons will play Texas A&M-Kingsville on Tuesday, December 16, and Dallas Baptist on Wednesday, December 17. Those will be UMSL’s final games of the 2025 portion of its schedule.
When the new year begins, the Tritons will begin with a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference home games at the Mark Twain Building.
On January 2, UMSL will host Quincy (7:45 p.m.), then on January 4, the Tritons will host Upper Iowa (3:15 p.m.). Both of those matchups will be proceeded by women’s basketball games featuring the same schools.
WISCONSIN-PARKSIDE 56
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 03 | Palmer,Josiah | * | 28 | 4-9 | 3-8 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 11 |
| 05 | Mateski,Luka | * | 24 | 3-8 | 0-3 | 4-4 | 0-6 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 22 | Warden,Paxton | * | 30 | 2-10 | 0-4 | 3-5 | 0-3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 10 | Surakat,Fawaz | * | 30 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 2-8 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 30 | Behn,Zach | * | 18 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 23 | Zahour,Logan | 20 | 5-9 | 3-6 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 13 | |
| 04 | Ivan,Ethan | 24 | 3-5 | 3-4 | 1-1 | 0-1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| 02 | McGlothlin,Braden | 16 | 0-2 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 14 | Rose,Jack | 10 | 0-3 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 19-53 | 9-30 | 9-13 | 4-28 | 32 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 1 | 9 | 56 |
UMSL 61
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 03 | Hamilton,Jake | * | 38 | 5-10 | 2-3 | 2-3 | 0-11 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 13 | Boland,Miles | * | 37 | 4-11 | 2-6 | 2-2 | 0-2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 12 |
| 05 | Moore,Taye | * | 34 | 2-9 | 1-3 | 2-2 | 0-5 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 12 | Davis III,Vincent | * | 18 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 21 | Creighton,Jayden | * | 12 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Makeer,Makeer | 28 | 4-9 | 2-4 | 2-2 | 0-8 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | |
| 23 | Phillips,Demetris | 11 | 3-5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2-1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| 35 | Barhayiga,Blessed | 12 | 2-6 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3-1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 22 | Dolphin,Colby | 9 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 01 | Parker,Quenton | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2-1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 23-58 | 7-17 | 8-10 | 8-31 | 39 | 15 | 12 | 13 | 4 | 8 | 61 |
UMSL TRITONS 2025-26 MEN’S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
| Date | Time | At | Opponent | Location | Tournament | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 1, 2025 (Saturday) | 7 p.m. | Neutral | Northwest Missouri State | St. Joseph, Mo. / Civic Arena | D2CCA Tip-Off Classic | L, 82-79 (0-1) |
| November 2, 2025 (Sunday) | 6 p.m. | Neutral | Missouri Western State | St. Joseph, Mo. / Civic Arena | D2CCA Tip-Off Classic | L, 71-63 (0-2) |
| November 14, 2025 (Friday) | 5:30 p.m. | Neutral | #13 Michigan Tech | Wisconsin Dells, Wis. / JustAGame Fieldhouse | JustAGame Crossover | W, 78-57 (1-2) |
| November 15, 2025 (Saturday) | 3 p.m. | Neutral | Northern Michigan | Wisconsin Dells, Wis. / JustAGame Fieldhouse | JustAGame Crossover | W, 80-67 (2-2) |
| November 21, 2025 (Friday) | 6 p.m. | Home | UHSP | Mark Twain Building | W, 96-52 (3-2) | |
| November 26, 2025 (Wednesday) | 1 p.m. | Home | Kentucky Wesleyan | Mark Twain Building | W, 72-61 (4-2) | |
| November 29, 2025 (Saturday) | 3:15 p.m. | Home | Illinois Springfield | Mark Twain Building | L, 86-76 (4-3) | |
| December 1, 2025 (Monday) | 7:30 p.m. | Away | Maryville | Chesterfield, Mo. / Moloney Arena | PPD | |
| December 4, 2025 (Thursday) | 7:45 p.m. | Away | Lewis | Romeoville, Ill. / Neil Carey Arena | W, 78-59 (5-3) | |
| December 6, 2025 (Saturday) | 2:15 p.m. | Away | Indianapolis | Indianapolis, Ind. / Nicoson Hall | L, 69-64 (5-4) | |
| December 9, 2025 (Tuesday) | 7:30 p.m. | Away | Maryville | Chesterfield, Mo. / Moloney Arena | W, 69-52 (6-4) | |
| December 13, 2025 (Saturday) | 3 p.m. | Home | Wisconsin-Parkside | Mark Twain Building | W, 61-56 (7-4) | |
| December 16, 2025 (Tuesday) | 3 p.m. | Neutral | Texas A&M – Kingsville | San Antonio, Texas / Northside ISD Sports Gym | River City Holiday Classic | |
| December 17, 2025 (Wednesday) | 3 p.m. | Neutral | Dallas Baptist | San Antonio, Texas / Northside ISD Sports Gym | River City Holiday Classic | |
| January 2, 2026 (Friday) | 7:45 p.m. | Home | Quincy | Mark Twain Building | ||
| January 4, 2026 (Sunday) | 3:15 p.m. | Home | Upper Iowa | Mark Twain Building | ||
| January 8, 2026 (Thursday) | 7:30 p.m. | Away | Rockhurst | Kansas City, Mo. / Mason-Halpin Gymnasium | ||
| January 10, 2026 (Saturday) | 3:15 p.m. | Away | Southwest Baptist | Bolivar, Mo. / Meyer Sports Center | ||
| January 15, 2026 (Thursday) | 7:45 p.m. | Home | Missouri S&T | Mark Twain Building | ||
| January 17, 2026 (Saturday) | 3:15 p.m. | Home | Lincoln | Mark Twain Building | ||
| January 24, 2026 (Saturday) | 3:15 p.m. | Home | Maryville | Mark Twain Building | ||
| January 29, 2026 (Thursday) | 7:45 p.m. | Away | McKendree | Lebanon, Ill. / Melvin Price Convocation Center | ||
| January 31, 2026 (Saturday) | 3:15 p.m. | Away | Illinois Springfield | Springfield, Ill. / TRAC | ||
| February 5, 2026 (Thursday) | 7:45 p.m. | Home | Indianapolis | Mark Twain Building | ||
| February 7, 2026 (Saturday) | 3:15 p.m. | Home | Lewis | Mark Twain Building | ||
| February 12, 2026 (Thursday) | 7 p.m. | Away | Upper Iowa | Fayette, Iowa / Dorman Memorial Gymnasium | ||
| February 14, 2026 (Saturday) | 3:15 p.m. | Away | Quincy | Quincy, Ill. / Pepsi Arena | ||
| February 19, 2026 (Thursday) | 7:45 p.m. | Home | Truman State | Mark Twain Building | ||
| February 21, 2026 (Saturday) | 3:15 p.m. | Home | William Jewell | Mark Twain Building | ||
| February 26, 2026 (Thursday) | 7:45 p.m. | Away | Drury | Springfield, Mo. / O’Reilly Family Events Center | ||
| March 5-8, 2026 | TBD | Neutral | GLVC Tournament | TBD |