UMSL big man Marty Jackson had a big night, with 21 points and 12 rebounds, in the Tritons’ 59-53 GLVC Tournament semifinal win over William Jewell, Saturday night at First Community Arena in Edwardsville. (Photo: Cedric Williams)
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| William Jewell | 21 | 32 | 53 |
| UMSL | 31 | 28 | 59 |
by Cedric Williams
Senior Editor
EDWARDSVILLE, IL — It wasn’t as pretty as Friday night, but they’ll definitely take it.
That was the feeling the University of Missouri-St. Louis men’s basketball team left the building with on Saturday, after squeezing out a nail-biting 59-53 win over William Jewell in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament semifinals at SIUE’s First Community Arena.
The Tritons who were knocked out in the GLVC tourney semis last year, have now advanced to this year’s championship game, which will be played Sunday afternoon against the University of Indianapolis, which won Saturday’s other semifinal game, 72-63, over Lewis.
That victory was a major revenge win for UIndy, which lost to Lewis last year in the GLVC semifinals. The Greyhounds will be playing in their first GLVC championship game ever when Sunday’s title game tips off at 3 p.m.
In the UMSL game on Saturday, junior big man Marty Jackson was the difference, as he posted game-high totals of 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Tritons to the win. Just like Friday, UMSL jumped out to a quick early lead and never trailed.
But unlike Friday’s quarterfinal against Southern Indiana, where the Tritons just continued to pull away and won in a blowout, William Jewell rallied from a 11-point second half deficit to within two points several different times, and even had possession of the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead at least two times.
Fortunately, UMSL wouldn’t wilt and managed to step up its defense every time it needed to to keep the Cardinals from pulling all the way even.
One key scenario came with just under four minutes to go, when William Jewell’s Mason Alexander hit a step-back three-pointer to make the score 51-49. But UMSL’s Shane Wissink, the star from Friday night’s victory, made a sprawling layup while also being fouled to put the Tritons back up by four.
The biggest moment though, came with just under a minute left, following a William Jewell basket and pair of free throws that made the score 55-53. UMSL missed a shot on its possession, which gave the Cardinals the ball with a chance to tie or possibly go ahead with a three.
But the Triton defense stiffened and forced the Cardinals to take an off-balance three-pointer with the shot clock running out, which barely hit the rim and was rebounded by Jackson. William Jewell had no choice but to foul him with only 18.6 seconds left on the clock.
The junior from Kansas City, calmly stepped to the line and drilled both free throws to put UMSL back ahead by four. That difference proved to be enough, but just for good measure, Jackson hit two more free throws with four seconds left to leave no doubt that the Tritons were leaving the building with their biggest win of the season.
Now the focus will turn to Sunday’s GLVC championship game, which UMSL has never won. The Tritons last played in the conference title game two seasons ago, when UMSL lost on a last-second shot to Truman State.
William Jewell 53
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Mason Alexander | * | 40 | 6-16 | 4-12 | 0-1 | 0-5 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 25 | Jordan Jermain | * | 37 | 3-10 | 2-7 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 34 | Heri Tshiyoyo | * | 31 | 3-5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3-8 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| 24 | Kobe McKinley | * | 17 | 2-5 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 04 | John Zimmerman | * | 14 | 2-4 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 03 | Trey Shannon | 25 | 2-3 | 1-1 | 4-4 | 0-2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| 23 | Grant Stubbs | 27 | 1-8 | 0-2 | 2-2 | 2-2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | |
| 33 | Jevaughn Ferguson | 9 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | – | 200 | 19-51 | 7-24 | 8-9 | 6-21 | 27 | 16 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 53 |
Missouri-St. Louis 59
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | Marty Jackson | * | 35 | 5-12 | 0-1 | 11-12 | 5-7 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 21 |
| 04 | Yaakema Rose | * | 37 | 5-15 | 0-1 | 2-2 | 1-1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 12 |
| 23 | Steve Webb | * | 31 | 5-8 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3-3 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| 35 | Jose Grubbs | * | 29 | 4-11 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-6 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 02 | Shane Wissink | * | 39 | 2-5 | 1-4 | 0-1 | 1-3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 11 | Isaiah Fuller | 18 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 01 | Marquis Collins | 5 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 05 | Trever Moore | 5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 13 | Kellen King | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | – | 200 | 22-53 | 2-10 | 13-15 | 12-27 | 39 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 59 |