Tale of Two Halves for Rivermen in Loss
UMSL Falls to Missouri-Rolla in Season Opener
Rolla, Mo. – In the opening game of the season for UMSL and new head coach Chris Pilz, the Rivermen had a tale of two halves, playing a hard fought first half before stumbling in the second half after a slow start, and eventually falling 84-54 to Missouri-Rolla.
In the first half, UMSL got off to a slow start and trailed 4-0 and was down by as many as eight points, 14-6, before getting the offense going. The Rivermen came rolling back, getting their first lead of the game at 15-14 after a jumper by Ronnie Banks (Birmingham, Ala./Phillips) with ten minutes left in the half. The game was back and forth after that, with seven lead changes and three ties in the rest of the half. Jonathan Griffin (St. Louis, Mo./Normandy) kept UMSL in the game with some hot shooting, hitting two consecutive three pointers that gave the Rivermen the led after both baskets, the later a 32-31 lead with two minutes remaining. UMR retook the lead on a three pointer by DeAndre Johnson, but UMSL responded with a three pointer from Kevin Nordmann (Webster Groves, Mo./Webster Groves) to send the game into halftime tied at 37-37. Griffin led UMSL in the first half with 19 points, setting a new career high in the first 20 minutes of the season, and Nordmann added 12 points in the opening half to pace the Rivermen.
The Miners came out hot in the second half, scoring the first seven points of the half, and opening the second half with a 12-2 run over the first 13 minutes of the half. UMR continued to extend on that run, outscoring UMSL 28-4 to open the half, with the only UMSL points in that stretch coming on two inside baskets by Jared Pratt (Elsberry, Mo./Elsberry). The Miners dominated the rest of the half with that big start, cruising from there to an 84-54 victory, spoiling the debut for UMSL head coach Chris Pilz and the Rivermen.
UMSL was led by Jonathan Griffin with 20 points, a new career high for Griffin who was shut down in the second half by the Miners after a 19-point first half. Kevin Nordmann added 12 points for UMSL, all in the second half, and Jared Pratt scored all eight of his points in the second half.
UMSL is now 0-1 on the new season, and will have three straight home games coming up, beginning with a Monday night game against St. Louis Christian College with tipoff scheduled for 7:45 pm.