UMSL basketball players Yaakema Rose, Shane Wissink, Jose Grubbs, and Marty Jackson celebrate a hard-fought victory over Southern Indiana, Thursday night at the Mark Twain Building in St. Louis. (Photo: Cedric Williams)
| Team | 1 | 2 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| S. Indiana | 32 | 36 | 68 |
| UMSL | 31 | 45 | 76 |
by Torrance Terrell
Staff Writer
ST. LOUIS, MO — The University of Missouri-St. Louis men’s basketball team picked up a huge victory Thursday night, when it defeated Southern Indiana, 76-68, in an important Great Lakes Valley Conference contest at the Mark Twain Building on UMSL’s campus.
Four UMSL players scored in double figures, as the Tritons dominated the second half to pull away from the visiting Screamin’ Eagles.
The victory, coupled with Truman State’s loss to GLVC West Division-leading Southwest Baptist, moved UMSL into a first-place tie in the GLVC Central with Truman, heading into both teams’ final regular season game on Saturday.
UMSL, which is now 19-6 overall on the season and 13-5 in conference play, will host McKendree at the Mark Twain Building, Saturday at 3 p.m.
Truman (19-7, 13-5) will go on the road to play at Rockhurst on Saturday.
If UMSL wins on Saturday and Truman loses, the Tritons would win the GLVC Central for the second straight year, and would be no lower than the No. 3 seed in the GLVC Tournament, which will begin on Monday.
On Thursday, UMSL led for most of the first half, but a 13-4 run over the final four minutes allowed Southern Indiana to take a 32-31 halftime lead.
The teams traded the lead in the early minutes of the second half, before the Tritons grabbed the lead for good, midway through the period, thanks to a 10-2 run, which was sparked by a three-point jumper by senior Shane Wissink and a traditional three-point play by senior Steve Webb.
Fellow senior Jose Grubbs and junior post man Marty Jackson led the Tritons with 19 points apiece. Grubbs was four-of-seven from three-point land, and Jackson added seven rebounds and three blocked shots.
Another senior, point guard Yaakema Rose had 14 points, while Webb finished with 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
UMSL led by 15 points with just over four minutes left, but Southern Indiana was able to cut its deficit to four with just under a minute to go.
Fortunately for the Tritons, Southern Indiana committed two turnovers and missed two of its final three shots in the final minute to prevent themselves from pulling off a major comeback.
The GLVC Tournament will be played at First Community Arena in Edwardsville, Ill., with all 15 teams being eligible to compete.
The No. 1 overall seed, which is likely to be Southwest Baptist, will receive the only first round bye. All the other teams would need to win four games to win the GLVC title.
UMSL was the tournament’s No. 2 seed last season, and served as the host school for the semifinals and finals.
Unfortunately, the Tritons lost in the semifinals to Drury, which eventually lost in the championship game to Lewis.
Southern Indiana 68
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32 | Jacob Polakovich | * | 35 | 8-9 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 8-10 | 18 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 16 |
| 03 | Tyler Henry | * | 29 | 5-13 | 4-7 | 2-2 | 1-3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 16 |
| 00 | Jelani Simmons | * | 37 | 3-11 | 3-7 | 0-0 | 1-4 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 9 |
| 13 | Isaiah Stafford | * | 19 | 4-11 | 0-3 | 1-4 | 0-2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 04 | Elijah Jones | * | 29 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 1-3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 01 | Isaiah Swope | 15 | 3-9 | 2-5 | 3-4 | 0-2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 11 | |
| 02 | Clayton Hughes | 25 | 1-3 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| 31 | Tyler Dancy | 5 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 33 | Chance Coyle | 4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | Tyler Martin | 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 | 2-2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | – | 200 | 25-61 | 10-23 | 8-14 | 14-28 | 42 | 21 | 9 | 20 | 2 | 7 | 68 |
UMSL 76
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | Jose Grubbs | * | 36 | 6-11 | 4-7 | 3-4 | 0-3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 19 |
| 21 | Marty Jackson | * | 34 | 6-15 | 0-1 | 7-9 | 1-6 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 19 |
| 04 | Yaakema Rose | * | 24 | 5-8 | 0-1 | 4-4 | 0-1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| 23 | Steve Webb | * | 36 | 5-8 | 0-0 | 2-3 | 1-7 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 12 |
| 02 | Shane Wissink | * | 38 | 1-6 | 1-5 | 3-4 | 0-1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 11 | Isaiah Fuller | 13 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1-0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| 05 | Trever Moore | 11 | 1-2 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
| 15 | Myles Cephas | 6 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 13 | Kellen King | 2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 01 | Marquis Collins | 0+ | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | – | 200 | 25-53 | 6-17 | 20-26 | 4-23 | 27 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 5 | 8 | 76 |