UMSL Falls at SIU Edwardsville

Rivermen Fall 61-51 in Conference Matchup

Edwardsville, Ill. – The UMSL Rivermen dropped their second straight game, and the third in the last four games, with a 61-51 loss at SIU Edwardsville.

In the first half, UMSL grabbed the quick lead, scoring the first seven points of the game and led 14-7 with 12:14 left in the half. The Cougars would then used a 7-0 run to tie the game at 14-14 and took the lead on a pair of free throws by Tim Bauersachs. Sherome Cole would then hit a jumper for UMSL at the 6:56 mark to give the lead back to the Rivermen at 18-17. After a bucket by UMSL gave the Rivermen a 20-17 lead, SIU Edwardsville would close up the last 5:26 of the half with a 16-2 scoring run to take a 33-22 win going into the lockerroom.

UMSL came out in the second half and scored the first four points of the half to make it a seven-point game at 33-26. SIUE then got two buckets from Ron Jones to extend the Cougar lead back to 11 points at 37-26 with 14 minutes remaining. The Rivermen would close the gap to seven points at 37-30 before SIUE responded with a 10-4 run, increasing their lead to as many as 13 points, 47-34, with 7:10 left in the game. The Rivermen continued to fight back, using an 11-2 run to cut into the lead. Daryl Saine and Jonathan Griffin provided all the scoring for UMSL during the run, as Saine had six points and Griffin five points, to cut the Cougar lead to just four points at 49-45 with three minutes remaining. SIUE then got a free throw to make it a five-point game. SIUE then hit some late free throws, including six straight by Ron Jones, to hold on for the 61-51 win.

UMSL was led by Jonathan Griffin with 12 points on the night. SIUE was led by Ron Jones with a game high 19 points and 16 points by Justin Ward. The Rivermen are now 5-5 overall on the season and drop to 2-3 in the GLVC. UMSL will be in action again on Saturday with a conference game at Quincy.