UMSL sophomore Matt Enright will lead the Tritons into their final two home games this weekend. (Photo courtesy: UMSL Athletics)
DeMarcus Dixon
Staff Writer
NORMANDY, MO — The University of Missouri-St. Louis men’s basketball team will close out the regular season portion of its schedule this weekend, with a pair of home games at the Mark Twain Building.
The Tritons are battling to qualify for the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament and will host games against first place Indianapolis on Thursday and third place Lewis on Saturday. Thursday’s game will be part of UMSL’s Pack the Stands Night, where the school and athletic program will give away free food and free Triton gear, as part of UMSL’s Homecoming festivities.
With its road win at McKendree last Saturday, UMSL jumped to fifth in the latest installment of the GLVC’s Point Rating System (PRS) that is used to determine the eight teams that qualify for the conference tournament. This year’s conference tournament begins next Thursday and will be held at Hyland Arena on the campus of Lindenwood University.
UIndy and Upper Iowa currently hold the top two spots in the PRS while the third through seven spots are separated by a total of 5.5 points. UMSL currently has 61 points and a PRS of 3.39. It’s ahead of William Jewell by 0.06 points and Illinois Springfield by 0.07 points. McKendree is in eighth with a PRS of 3.22 and is 0.16 points ahead of Rockhurst for the final spot in the conference tournament.
The Tritons (12-14, 10-8 GLVC) got a season-high 23 points from Matt Enright while Emanuel Prospere II added 17 points and Savon Wykle and Troy Glover II added 15 and 12 points respectively. UMSL’s defense held McKendree’s Milos Vicentic, the GLVC’s second leading scorer, 15 points below his season average in the victory.
Enright continues to lead UMSL in scoring this season with his 13.8 per game. Mayson Quartlebaum is at 12.0 per contest while Prospere and Glover are contributing 10.8 and 10.0 per outing respectively. Glover leads the team and the conference with his 7.8 rebounds per game and is second in blocked shots averaging 1.8 per contest. Enright has handed out 84 assists to go along with 30 steals.
About UIndy – The Greyhounds enter Thursday’s contest with an overall record of 19-7 including 15-3 in the GLVC and have won four straight and seven of their last eight overall. Last weekend UIndy edged William Jewell 70-68 and defeated Rockhurst 89-74 to wrap up its regular season home slate.
Jesse Bingham is one of four Hounds players averaging double figures in scoring with 15.1 per game. Kendrick Tchoua is adding 12.7 points and is second in the conference in rebounding at 7.6 per game. Paul Zilinskas and Jarvis Walker are contributing 12.5 and 11.1 points per contest respectively. Josiah Tynes leads the team with 63 assists while Bingham has team-highs in steals (34) and blocked shots (39).
About Lewis – The Flyers enter Thursday’s contest at McKendree with an overall mark of 15-11 including 11-7 in the GLVC and have won four of their last five games. Lewis wrapped up its home schedule last weekend defeating Rockhurst (86-80) and William Jewell (84-70).
Beau Frericks leads the team in scoring with 16.4 per game and is joined in double figures by Gary Solomon at 12.1 per contest. Ryan Renfro is averaging 7.3 rebounds per outing. Jamere Hill has a team best 67 assists while Solomon and Renfro are tied for the team lead with nine blocked shots.
Tip off for Thursday’s game is at 7:30 p.m. Saturday’s matchup will tip at 3 p.m.
UMSL TRITONS 2023-24 MEN’S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
| Date | Gametime | At | Opponent | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Hyland Arena / St. Charles, Mo. |