UMSL Falls to St. Mary's

Slow Second Half Start Spoils Upset Bid for Rivermen

St. Louis, Mo. – A slow start in the second half was the downfall for the Missouri-St. Louis men’s basketball team on Saturday, as they lost to St. Mary’s (TX) 79-62. UMSL led 28-25 at the half, but the Rattlers used a big run to open the second half and take control of the game.

Missouri-St. Louis jumped out to the quick lead to open the game, scoring the first eight points of the game. Six of those eight points came on back-to-back three-pointer by Ronnie Banks (Birmingham, Ala./Phillips) and Kevin Nordmann (Webster Groves, Mo./Webster Groves). St. Mary’s then fought their way back with a 7-1 run and eventually tied the game at 19-19 with seven minutes remaining. The Rivermen would turn up the defense, allowing just one more field goal by the Rattlers in the rest of the half and went into the lockerroom leading 28-25 at halftime after a buzzer beating layup by Ike Attah (Port Harcourt, Nigeria).

The opening of the second half was all Rattlers, as St. Mary’s took control of the game with a 28-4 run to open the half second half. UMSL scored just two field goals in the opening nine minutes and buried themselves in a hole, but the team refused to give up and would make a run later in the half. Trailing 63-44, UMSL would go on a 7-0 run to cut the lead down to just 12 points with five minutes remaining. However, the deficit was too much to overcome for UMSL, as St. Mary’s went on for the 79-62 victory.

The Rivermen were led by Jonathan Griffin (St. Louis, Mo./Normandy), who tied his career best with 20 points in the game, and also pulled down seven rebounds. Kevin Nordmann added 12 points and Ronnie Banks had 11 points for UMSL. St. Mary’s was led by Pedro Brito with 19 points and 12 rebounds and Billy White had 15 points and 14 rebounds.

UMSL is now 1-2 on the season and will be at home again on Monday night when they host Lindenwood at 7:45 pm.