UMSL boxscore in PDFThe Maryville men's basketball team traveled to the University of Missouri-St. Louis looking for its first Great Lakes Valley Conference win of the season and held off a late charge by the Tritons to notch a 68-64 victory. The Saints shot 52.8 percent to key the win.
The Saints held a narrow 17-15 lead before
Jeff Leeson knocked down a 3-pointer.
Grant Sims made two free throws, and after an UMSL bucket, Sims scored on a layup.
Ben Volkman added a hoop inside as the Saints took a double-digit lead at 26-16. The Tritons scored a 3-pointer and cut the gap to 26-20 before the Saints scored the final 11 points of the half. Volkman scored inside, and Sims completed a three-point play to start the run. Sims sank two more at the line, and a
Karson King bucket closed out the burst for a 37-20 lead at halftime.
UMSL started the second half quickly as trimmed its deficit to 10. The Saints turned the ball over and the Tritons converted to get the Saints lead down to single digits at 49-41.
Saikou Jallow scored back-to-back layups, and after an UMSL hoop, Sims sank two at the line for a 57-45 lead with just over nine minutes to play in the second half. UMSL again closed to 57-49 but
Damyan Stoyanov converted on a backdoor cut and Jallow found him for a layup and a double-digit lead at 59-49 with just over seven minutes to play. Stoyanov made one free throw, missed the second but the Saints ran down the rebound.
Max Mischkulnig powered for another layup as Maryville went up 62-49. Sims and Michkulnig converted consecutive baskets inside as the Saints went up 66-51. With just under five minutes to play. The Tritons got as close as 68-60 as it went on a 9-2 run. The Saints turned the ball over with 1:34 to play but got a stop. However, the Saints missed the one and one and UMSL scored to make it 68-62. The Tritons made two free throws with 10.6 seconds to play but the Saints held on for the 68-64 win over the Tritons who are now 4-5 overall, 0-3 in the league.
Grant Sims led the Saints with 15 points, while Mischkulnig hit 6-of-7 shots en route to 12 points. Leeson chipped in 10 points. The Saints hit 28-of-53 from the field and improve to 3-6 overall, 1-2 in the GLVC.
