UMSL’s Georden Rogers attempts a shot during Thursday’s NCAA men’s basketball game against UIndy at the Mark Twain Building. (Photo: Thomas Grove)
| NCAA Men’s Basketball | 1 | 2 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| UIndy (20-7, 16-3) | 37 | 30 | 67 |
| UMSL (12-15, 10-9) | 18 | 39 | 57 |
Cedric Williams
Senior Editor
NORMANDY, MO — The University of Missouri-St. Louis men’s basketball team trailed by 20 points early in the second half on Thursday, and rallied to get within single-digits against the first place University of Indianapolis. But it wasn’t enough, as UIndy held its lead throughout and eventually won the Great Lakes Valley Conference showdown, 67-57, at UMSL’s Mark Twain Building Gym.
With the loss, the Tritons fell to 12-15 overall and 10-9 in the GLVC, which dropped the team into a tie for sixth place with Illinois-Springfield in the GLVC’s Point Rating System which determines the eight teams that advance to next week’s conference championship tournament. UMSL and UIS each have a PRS of 3.21 and lead McKendree by 0.05 points. The Bearcats are in eighth place and currently hold the final spot for tournament qualification.
The Tritons were plagued by poor shooting in the first 20 minutes as they made just seven of 26 attempts from the floor including 1-for-9 from three and trailed by as many as 21 points in the final minute of the half before a dunk from Terrell Kabala cut the lead to 37-18 at the break.
UMSL still trailed by 20 points with 11:19 remaining in the contest when it began to climb back into the contest thanks to a 23-11 run over a stretch of 8:30 that saw it close to within eight after Emanuel Prospere II hit one of two free throws.
The Tritons had chances to cut further into the lead but missed three straight shots and the Greyhounds (20-7, 16-3 GLVC) hit all four of their free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.
UMSL shot 56 percent from the floor in the second half to finish the game at 41 percent (21-for-51) but was 4-of-19 from three and shot 69 percent at the foul line. Prospere led the Tritons with 17 points and was joined in double figures by Troy Glover II who finished with a double-double scoring 15 points and grabbing 11 rebounds while Matt Enright added 13 points.
UIndy shot 51 percent (25-for-49) in the contest including 7-of-16 from three and 56 percent at the foul line. Jarvis Walker led all scorers with 25 points while Jesse Bingham added 18 and Kendrick Tchoua finished with 11 more.
UMSL will host the regular season finale on Saturday at the Mark Twain Building. That day, the Tritons will take on Lewis. The Flyers are currently in fourth place in the league standings.
A victory will guarantee UMSL makes the postseason. But a loss and victories by Rockhurst and McKendree could knock the Tritons out.
Tip off for Saturday’s game is set for 3 p.m.
UIndy 67
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04 | Walker,Jarvis | * | 37 | 9-16 | 4-8 | 3-5 | 1-1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 25 |
| 03 | Bingham,Jesse | * | 38 | 6-12 | 0-2 | 6-10 | 1-0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 18 |
| 01 | Tchoua,Kendrick | * | 20 | 5-9 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 1-5 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 |
| 02 | Tynes,Josiah | * | 36 | 2-4 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2-6 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 12 | Ejah,David | * | 15 | 0-3 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 33 | Craig,Sean | 24 | 2-3 | 2-3 | 0-1 | 0-2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| 21 | Steinfeld,Julian | 14 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1-3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 00 | Ingram,Dylan | 11 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | Szul,Zach | 5 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3-1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 25-49 | 7-16 | 10-18 | 9-23 | 32 | 15 | 8 | 12 | 4 | 7 | 67 |
UMSL 57
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | Glover II, Troy | * | 38 | 4-8 | 0-0 | 7-9 | 2-9 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 15 |
| 03 | Enright, Matt | * | 38 | 6-14 | 1-5 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
| 20 | Wykle, Savon | * | 36 | 2-8 | 1-5 | 2-2 | 2-1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 05 | O’Neal II, Kris | * | 26 | 1-2 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 21 | Kabala, Terrell | * | 27 | 1-5 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 12 | Prospere II, Emanuel | 28 | 7-9 | 1-2 | 2-4 | 1-2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 17 | |
| 04 | Bledsoe, Sam | 4 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 13 | Rogers, Georden | 3 | 0-3 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 4-1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 21-51 | 4-19 | 11-16 | 9-22 | 31 | 19 | 13 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 57 |
UMSL TRITONS 2023-24 MEN’S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
| Date | Gametime | At | Opponent | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2, 2024 (Saturday) | 3 p.m. | Home | Lewis | Mark Twain Building |
| March 7-10, 2024 (Thursday) | TBA | Neutral | GLVC Tournament | Hyland Arena / St. Charles, Mo. |