UMSL point guard Yaakema Rose Jr. shoots a free throw during Saturday’s season-opening home victory over Walsh University. (Photo: Nathan Assata)
| Score by Half | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walsh (0-1) | 34 | 42 | 76 |
| UMSL (1-0) | 33 | 47 | 80 |
by Cedric Williams
Senior Editor
Most sports fans sort of expect their favorite teams to look a little jittery and extra excited during its first game of the season. The team has been off for months, practicing against nobody but each other, and now finally, they’re playing a real game against somebody else.
So it almost makes sense that the team would be a little extra excited for the first game of the new season.
That wasn’t the case for the University of Missouri-St. Louis men’s basketball team in its 2021-22 season opener, Saturday night at the Mark Twain Building, against Walsh University. Instead, the Tritons looked half asleep and even a little disinterested for the first few minutes of their first game of the season.
But then, UMSL woke up and started playing like the team most thought they would be this season. And that proved to be enough, as the Tritons pulled out an 80-76 win in the first game of the 2021 UMSL Crossover Tournament.
Junior power forward Marty Jackson led the way, with 24 points on 11-of-13 shooting, to go along with eight rebounds and three blocked shots. Four other teammates also scored in double-figures, as UMSL (1-0) rallied from a 15-point deficit early in the first half to get its first win of the season.
Walsh’s Garrison Keeslar had 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead his team, while teammate Darryl Straughter had 19 points, including five made three-pointers for the visiting Cavaliers as well.
Three of those three’s came all in a row, along with a pair of free throws, as Straughter sparked Walsh to a 15-0 run that helped the Cavaliers grab a 23-8 lead. But after a timeout, UMSL answered back with a 14-0 run of its own, to get back to within a point.
A dazzling spin move, layup, and three-point play free throw by UMSL point guard Yaakema Rose, Jr., tied the game at 29. And a few minutes later, a pair of free throws by Marquis Collins gave the Tritons their first lead. Walsh made a basket in the final seconds of the half to go into halftime with a 34-33 lead.
After the clubs traded baskets in the first moments of the second half, UMSL’s Jackson sparked a 10-3 Triton run with an alley-oop slam dunk off a pass from Rose.
Jackson then ended the run with another dunk that fired up the entire crowd, including a large number of Jackson family members, who made the drive all the way from Kansas City to see the 6-foot-6 star play his first game of the season.
Walsh rallied to get back into the game, and even led at different points of the second half. But a jumper by UMSL’s Atavian Butler, who finished with 10 points, at the 4-minute mark gave the Tritons back the lead for good.
Butler hit another jumper with just over a minute left, and Jackson added a layup with just under a minute left, to put UMSL up 75-68. From there, the Tritons just needed to hit their free throw, which they did, to close the game out.
Rose, who also had 10 points, hit three of four free throws in the final minute, and Isaiah Fuller, who had 13 points, hit the final two to put the game out of reach. Senior Jose Grubbs was the other UMSL player to reach double-figures in scoring. He had 14 points on the night.
UMSL (1-0) will be right back in action Sunday evening, when it will host Tiffin University, which lost its season-opener to Maryville in the second game of the night on Saturday. The UMSL-Tiffin contest will tipoff at 5 p.m.
| Walsh | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | Garrison Keeslar | * | 38 | 7-12 | 0-2 | 7-10 | 1-9 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 21 |
| 03 | Darryl Straughter | * | 36 | 6-15 | 5-11 | 2-2 | 1-2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
| 33 | Owen Hazelbaker | * | 20 | 5-11 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| 12 | Caleb Canter | * | 31 | 3-5 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 2-3 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 02 | Milan Square | * | 26 | 2-8 | 2-7 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 14 | Zakai Alexander | 31 | 1-5 | 1-1 | 5-6 | 1-2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| 32 | Derek Emelifeonwu | 5 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| 23 | Quentin Toles | 6 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 20 | Logan Murray | 4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 42 | Brent Walker | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | – | 200 | 24-58 | 9-25 | 19-26 | 7-20 | 27 | 20 | 5 | 13 | 0 | 6 | 76 |
| UMSL | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | Marty Jackson | * | 31 | 11-13 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 1-7 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 24 |
| 35 | Jose Grubbs | * | 32 | 5-8 | 2-4 | 2-4 | 1-4 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 14 |
| 04 | Yaakema Rose, Jr. | * | 30 | 2-8 | 0-1 | 6-7 | 2-3 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| 23 | Steve Webb | * | 18 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 02 | Shane Wissink | * | 35 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 0-3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 11 | Isaiah Fuller | 14 | 3-5 | 2-2 | 5-5 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | |
| 22 | Atavian Butler | 21 | 5-10 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 2-5 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 10 | |
| 01 | Marquis Collins | 8 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| 13 | Kellen King | 11 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | – | 200 | 29-53 | 4-12 | 18-24 | 6-27 | 33 | 22 | 10 | 14 | 5 | 6 | 80 |