UMSL Flies Past Hawks

Green Scores 20, Griffin Notches Double Double in Win at Quincy

Quincy, Ill. – Aaron Green (St. Louis, Mo./Riverview Gardens) scored 20 points and Jonathan Griffin (St. Louis, Mo./Normandy) recorded 13 points and 10 rebounds, including a big three pointer with 39 seconds left to carry UMSL to its first conference win of the season, beating Quincy 71-67 on Saturday.

UMSL got things started with a jumper by Aaron Green for the first lead of the game on the very first possession. The rest of the first half was back and forth the entire time, with a total of seven ties and nine lead changes over the first 20 minutes of the game. The seventh tie of the first half came at the six-minute mark as a layup by Derrell Minner (New Madrid, Mo./New Madrid Central) made it a 20-20 game. Quincy then scored six of the next seven points to take a five-point lead. UMSL’s Sherome Cole (Sikeston, Mo./Richland) hit a three pointer to quickly cut the lead back down to two points at 26-24, but the Hawks got two straight buckets for a 30-24 lead. After a free throw by Cole made it 30-25, Jonathan Griffin cut it to a two-point deficit at halftime on a three pointer at the buzzer to make it a 30-28 game at the break.

Chris Mroz (Chicago, Ill./St. Patrick) got the first bucket of the second half for UMSL to tie the game again at 30-30 and UMSL retook the lead on a jumper by Aaron Green on their next possession. The Hawks would stay in the game and took a 36-34 lead when the Rivermen took control of the game. Trailing by two, Green hit a three pointer for a one-point UMSL lead, and after an offensive foul on Quincy, Green hit another three pointer on UMSL’s next possession for a 40-36 lead. After a bucket by the Hawks, UMSL got five straight points on a layup by Joey Paul (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park) and a three pointer by Sherome Cole for its biggest lead of the game at 45-38 with 14 minutes left.

Quincy came right back, going on a 9-2 run over the next four mintues to tie the game at 47-47. Joey Paul broke that tie with a three pointer but the Hawks would storm back with seven straight points to take a four-point lead at 54-50. Quincy would not give up the lead easily, but Aaron Green kept the Rivermen in striking distance. Trailing by three, Green hit a big three pointer that tied the game at 56-56, and after two free throws by the Hawks, Green converted a three-point play that gave UMSL a 59-58 lead with 2:30 remaining. Quincy got the lead back on the next possession, but the Rivermen got two free throws from Joey Paul with 1:38 left in the game. The Hawks came back with a layup to lead by one, but Jonathan Griffin hit a big three pointer with 39 seconds left to give UMSL the lead for good as the Rivermen hit all six free throw attempts in the final 30 seconds to secure the first conference win of the season.

Aaron Green led UMSL with 20 points, his third 20-point game in four conference games, as he hit 8-of-14 from the field and 3-of-4 from three-point range. Jonathan Griffin recorded UMSL’s first double double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds while dishing out three assists. Sherome Cole added 13 points off the bench for the Rivermen as well. UMSL hit 9-of-17 from three-point range while holding the Hawks to 4-of-24 shooting from beyond the arc.

The Rivermen notched their first conference win of the season, and improve to 2-5 overall on the season and are now 1-3 in the GLVC. UMSL will be on the road next week to play at Southern Indiana on Wednesday, December 8, at 7:30 pm.