UMSL’s Troy Glover had 19 points and 14 rebounds in the Tritons’ 83-78 loss to McKendree on Saturday. (Photo courtesy: UMSL Athletics)
| NCAA Men’s Basketball | 1 | 2 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| McKendree (10-4, 4-3) | 40 | 43 | 83 |
| UMSL (8-9, 5-2) | 34 | 44 | 78 |
Cedric Williams
Senior Editor
NORMANDY, MO — During its historic run of recent success, which has included back-to-back trips to the NCAA Midwest Regionals, a regional title, a Great Lakes Valley Conference title, and two trips to the GLVC Tournament championship game, one team in particular has been a thorn in the side for the University of Missouri-St. Louis men’s basketball team.
And that team has been the McKendree University Bearcats.
It actually began during the covid season of 2020-2021, when McKendree beat UMSL in the final game of the regular season. The next season, UMSL won the teams’ only matchup in its Senior Night game at the Mark Twain Building, on its way to a GLVC championship.
But the next year, which was last year, on its way to a Midwest Regional championship, UMSL lost to McKendree on Senior Night, then lost to them again 10 days later in the GLVC Tournament championship game.
No team has given the most recent version of coach Bob Sundvold’s Tritons as much trouble as the Bearcats have.
And that continued on Saturday, as McKendree came to the Mark Twain and ended UMSL’s two-game winning streak, by defeating the Tritons 83-78.
The Bearcats led for the majority of the game and got a pair of huge scoring performances by senior Caleb Zurleine and junior Milos Vicentic, who each scored 28 points. The two combined to hit 21-of-32 shots, which included seven three-pointers, to keep the Tritons from coming back.
McKendree led 40-34 at halftime, but UMSL began the second half with a 13-6 run to take its only lead of the second half at 47-46. The Bearcats responded with a 9-0 run to go back ahead 55-47 and never trailed again.
UMSL did manage to cut its deficit to one point on two different occasions, but the Tritons were never able to completely tie the score or re-take the lead again.
Four Triton players scored in double figures, led by sophomore big man Troy Glover. The 6-foot-10, 210-pounder from Wheaton, Ill., had 19 points and 14 rebounds to dominate the paint for UMSL.
Teammates Mayson Quartlebaum, Terrell Kabala, and Kris O’Neal added 16 points, 12 points, and 10 points, respectively.
The loss dropped UMSL’s season record back below the .500 mark at 8-9 (5-2 in GLVC play), while McKendree is now 10-4 on the year and 4-3 in the conference.
UMSL will be on the road for its next two games, as it travels to Indianapolis and Chicago over the next seven days for games against the University of Indianapolis (Thursday, January 18) and Lewis University (Saturday, January 20).
UMSL’s next home game will be Thursday, January 25, when the Tritons will host Missouri S&T.
McKendree 83
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 03 | Zurliene,Caleb | * | 36 | 12-16 | 2-4 | 2-3 | 0-2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 28 |
| 31 | Vicentic,Milos | * | 36 | 9-16 | 5-6 | 5-7 | 1-5 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 28 |
| 00 | Niesman,Joey | * | 38 | 2-3 | 0-1 | 4-5 | 0-5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| 25 | Parker,Carson | * | 31 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 3-5 | 1-6 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 10 | Davitkov,Aleksandar | * | 32 | 2-6 | 1-5 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 01 | Stein,Kevin | 15 | 1-3 | 0-2 | 4-4 | 0-3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| 23 | Zurliene,Landon | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 21 | Meakes,Hayden | 7 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 04 | Davis,Malcolm | 2 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 28-50 | 8-18 | 19-26 | 2-26 | 28 | 20 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 83 |
UMSL 78
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | Glover II, Troy | * | 30 | 7-15 | 0-0 | 5-6 | 8-6 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 19 |
| 15 | Quartlebaum, Mayson | * | 36 | 5-12 | 2-5 | 4-7 | 2-3 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 21 | Kabala, Terrell | * | 17 | 3-5 | 1-2 | 5-7 | 0-6 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 03 | Enright, Matt | * | 37 | 2-11 | 1-6 | 3-3 | 1-3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 20 | Wykle, Savon | * | 38 | 2-10 | 2-7 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| 05 | O’Neal II, Kris | 22 | 4-4 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| 12 | Prospere II, Emanuel | 16 | 3-6 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| 04 | Bledsoe, Sam | 4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 26-63 | 9-24 | 17-24 | 14-25 | 39 | 22 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 78 |
UMSL TRITONS 2023-24 MEN’S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
| Date | Gametime | At | Opponent | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 18, 2024 (Thursday) | 6:30 p.m. | Away | Indianapolis | Indianapolis, Ind. / Nicoson Hall |
| January 20, 2024 (Saturday) | 3 p.m. | Away | Lewis | Romeoville, Ill. / Neil Carey Arena |
| January 25, 2024 (Thursday) | 7:30 p.m. | Home | Missouri S&T | Mark Twain Building |
| January 27, 2024 (Saturday) | 3 p.m. | Home | Maryville | Mark Twain Building |
| February 1, 2024 (Thursday) | 7:30 p.m. | Away | Upper Iowa | Fayette, Iowa / Dorman Memorial Gymnasium |
| February 3, 2024 (Saturday) | 3 p.m. | Away | Truman State | Kirksville, Mo. / Pershing Arena |
| February 8, 2024 (Thursday) | 7:30 p.m. | Home | Illinois Springfield | Mark Twain Building |
| February 10, 2024 (Saturday) | 3 p.m. | Home | Quincy | Mark Twain Building |
| February 15, 2024 (Thursday) | 7:45 p.m. | Away | Drury | Springfield, Mo. / O’Reilly Family Events Center |
| February 17, 2024 (Saturday) | 3 p.m. | Away | Southwest Baptist | Bolivar, Mo. / John Q. Hammons Court |
| February 24, 2024 (Saturday) | 3 p.m. | Away | McKendree | Lebanon, Ill. / Harry Statham Court |
| February 29, 2024 (Thursday) | 7:30 p.m. | Home | Indianapolis | Mark Twain Building |
| March 2, 2024 (Saturday) | 3 p.m. | Home | Lewis | Mark Twain Building |
| March 7-10, 2024 (Thursday) | TBA | Neutral | GLVC Tournament | TBD |