Bellarmine Holds on for Win Over UMSL

Rivermen Fall 78-67 to Knights

St. Louis, Mo. – The UMSL men’s basketball team fell short on Saturday, losing to Bellarmine 78-67 in a GLVC contest. The Rivermen have now lost 13-straight games on the season after the loss to the Knights.

In the early minutes of the game, it was a back-and-forth battle that saw two ties and three lead changes in the first six minutes of the game. The Knights then took control, getting a three pointer from Brad Ayer for a 12-10 lead with 14 minutes left in the half. Bellarmine would slowly push that lead up to seven points at 17-10 with 12:45 to play. The Rivermen slowly chipped away at that lead the rest of the half. UMSL got the lead down to just one point at 25-24 after a pair of Jared Pratt free throws with 5:37 left in the half. Bellermine came back with a jumper by Bruce Johnson and UMSL responded with a Larry Wells jumper to make it 27-26 with just under four minutes to go in the half. The Knights came back with five straight points and pushed the lead up to as many as eight points at 36-28 and took a 38-32 advantage at halftime.

Bellarmine came out strong in the second half, scoring nine of the first 11 points to lead 47-36 at the 16:28 mark for the largest lead of the game at that point. UMSL came right back, using a 12-2 run over the next three minutes, capped off by a Larry Wells three pointer that made it a one-point game at 49-48. UMSL trailed by one point again at 51-50 when the Knights went on a 7-1 run to push the lead back up to seven points at 58-51 with 8:35 remaining. Bellarmine would then hold onto that lead the rest of the game, connecting on 14-of-16 free throws in the final five minutes of the game to hold on for the 78-67 win.

UMSL was led by Jared Pratt and Larry Wells with 16 points each and Sherome Cole with 12 points. Bellarmine had four players in double figures, led by Bruce Johnson with 20 points and Zach Miller with 16 points off the bench. Nathan Sexton recorded a double-double for the Knights with 13 points and ten rebounds.

The Rivermen are now 5-16 on the season and 2-13 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. UMSL will hit the road next weekend for its final regular season road trip with games on February 13 at Indianapolis and on February 15 at Saint Joseph’s.