Lions Roar Past UMSL in Overtime

Rivermen Fall 85-82 in OT

St. Charles, Mo. – The Missouri-St. Louis men’s basketball team dropped an overtime game at Lindenwood on Monday evening in overtime, falling 85-82 in UMSL’s first ever loss to the Lions.

Lindenwood got the first bucket of the game for a quick lead, and pushed it out to as many as seven points at 17-10 halfway through the first half. UMSL would fight back and used a 7-2 run to close the deficit to just one point at 22-21 after a layup by Chris Mroz (Chicago, Ill./St. Patrick) with just over four minutes left in the half. With under two minutes left in the half, the Rivermen got their first lead of the game on a layup from David Ward (Maryland Heights, Mo./DeSmet) and another bucket by Jonathan Griffin (St. Louis, Mo./Normandy) made it a three-point lead at 29-26. Two straight baskets by the Lions gave Lindenwood a one-point lead before Aaron Green (St. Louis, Mo./Riverview Gardens) got a put-back bucket for a 31-30 UMSL lead heading into halftime.

UMSL came one firing in the second half, hitting a bucket on each of their first five possessions in the second half, including three three-point field goals, and followed those baskets with a pair of free throws from Jonathan Griffin for a ten-point lead at 46-36 just three minutes into the half. UMSL held a nine-point lead with 13:32 left in the game when the Lions roared back with nine straight points over the next three minutes to tie the game at 51-51. Jonathan Griffin the scored five straight points on a layup and a three pointer for a 56-51 UMSL lead, but Lindenwood came right back with five points of their own to tie it again at 56-56. The game went back and forth over the last nine minutes with neither team leading by more than two points. UMSL had the last shot to win in regulation, missing a jumper with the score tied at 73-73 to send it into overtime.

In the extra period, Lindenwood got two quick jumpers for a four-point lead, but UMSL used free throws to get back in the game and took an 80-79 lead after a pair of free throws from Sherome Cole (Sikeston, Mo./Richland) with one minute to play. The Lions got a jumper on their next possession to take an 81-80 lead, and after an UMSL turnover Lindenwood hit two free throws to go up 83-80. A late layup by UMSL was followed by two more free throws from the Lions for the 85-82 final score.

Jonathan Griffin led all scorers with a game-high 32 points, hitting 7-of-19 from the field and 15-of-20 from the free throw line. He also pulled down a team high nine rebounds. Aaron Green added 20 points for UMSL on 7-of-16 shooting from the field and Derrell Minner (New Madrid, Mo./New Madrid County) pulled down seven rebounds.

The Rivermen fall to 2-8 on the season and will be at home this weekend for a pair of GLVC games. UMSL will host Northern Kentucky on Thursday night at 7:30 pm and then host Indianapolis on Saturday afternoon at 1 pm.