Senior guard Steve Webb was one of six UMSL players to score in double figures in the Tritons’ NCAA Tournament first round win, Friday night over Truman State. (Photo courtesy: UMSL Athletics)

Team	1	2	F
UMSL	40	33	73
Truman State	37	31	68

by Cedric Williams
Senior Editor

Six University of Missouri-St. Louis men’s basketball players scored in double figures, Friday night, as the Tritons earned their first NCAA Tournament win in 34 years, by defeating Great Lakes Valley Conference rival Truman State, 73-68, in a first round game played at Walsh University’s Alumni Gymnasium in North Canton, Ohio.

UMSL, the GLVC Tournament champions, came into the NCAA Division II Tournament Midwest Region as the No. 5 seed, but looked every bit like the best team in the region, as it held off the GLVC preseason favorites in a contest that featured 11 ties and 10 lead changes.

Shane Wissink, the MVP of the GLVC Tournament, led the Tritons with 15 points, including three three-pointers, while teammate Marquis Collins came off the bench to add 12 points.

Fellow starters Marty Jackson, Yaakema Rose, and Steve Webb each had 10 points and four assists, with Isaiah Cooper also putting in 10 points to spark the UMSL offense, which had a tough shooting night (just 39 percent as a team), but took advantage of 15 Truman State turnovers and turned them into 21 very important points.

The most important of those points and turnovers came during an incredible sequence of possessions in the final three minutes, when an UMSL defender stole the ball from a Truman State player on four of five straight possessions.

Fuller had two steals during that run and so did Rose, with each of them making two free throws apiece that helped turn an UMSL two-point lead into a six-point edge.

Truman made a three-pointer that cut the Triton lead to three, but then missed a three-point attempt with six seconds left that could have tied the game. UMSL gained possession, which forced the Bulldogs to foul Wissink after he received an inbounds pass.

The senior calmly knocked down both free throws to give the Tritons a five-point edge with four seconds left, which was more than enough to send Truman home for the rest of the season and UMSL on the NCAA Tournament’s second round.

The victory was UMSL’s 11th in a row, and raised the Tritons’ overall season record to 25-6. UMSL will play host Walsh (25-5) in the second round game on Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., with the winner advancing the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Final, which will be played on Monday, March 14.

Missouri-St. Louis 73

##	Player	GS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	ORB-DRB	REB	PF	A	TO	BLK	STL	PTS
02	Shane Wissink	*	38	5-8	3-4	2-2	0-1	1	3	0	1	0	0	15
04	Yaakema Rose	*	34	4-16	0-1	2-2	4-0	4	2	4	1	0	3	10
21	Marty Jackson	*	33	5-18	0-0	0-0	5-4	9	3	4	0	1	0	10
23	Steve Webb	*	23	4-7	0-0	2-2	2-4	6	4	4	1	0	1	10
35	Jose Grubbs	*	17	1-5	1-2	1-4	1-3	4	2	1	0	0	0	4
01	Marquis Collins		12	5-8	2-4	0-0	1-2	3	4	0	1	0	0	12
11	Isaiah Fuller		33	4-9	0-0	2-2	1-1	2	2	0	1	0	5	10
05	Trever Moore		7	1-1	0-0	0-0	0-1	1	1	0	1	0	1	2
13	Kellen King		3	0-1	0-1	0-0	0-1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
TM	TEAM		0	0-0	0-0	0-0	4-3	7	0	0	1	0	0	0
	TOTALS	–	200	29-73	6-12	9-12	18-20	38	21	13	7	1	10	73

Truman State 68

##	Player	GS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	ORB-DRB	REB	PF	A	TO	BLK	STL	PTS
35	Eric Northweather	*	35	9-13	4-6	5-9	1-6	7	3	0	1	5	0	27
12	Masen Miller	*	39	3-10	1-5	9-10	0-1	1	1	1	1	0	0	16
40	Cade McKnight	*	24	4-6	0-1	6-6	0-4	4	3	2	6	2	0	14
24	Elijah Hazekamp	*	33	2-8	0-3	0-0	3-3	6	3	1	1	0	1	4
03	Hunter Strait	*	25	1-3	0-0	1-2	0-3	3	2	5	2	0	0	3
04	Dylan Peeters		16	2-3	0-0	0-0	0-4	4	1	1	2	1	0	4
22	Josh Ollendieck		21	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-3	3	2	1	1	1	0	0
50	Keaton Mitchell		4	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
02	Sam Nissen		3	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	1	1	0	0	0
TM	TEAM		0	0-0	0-0	0-0	1-3	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
	TOTALS	–	200	21-43	5-15	21-27	5-27	32	16	13	15	9	1	68