UMSL Men's Basketball Picks Up First Win of Season

Rivermen Beat Harris Stowe 92-66

St. Louis, Mo. – The Missouri-St. Louis men’s basketball team got its first win of the season, beating Harris Stowe 92-66 in the home opener for the Rivermen. UMSL had four players in double figures, led by Jonathan Griffin (St. Louis, Mo./Normandy) with 16 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

UMSL (1-2), led 42-28 at the half after jumping out to a quick lead. The Rivermen trailed 6-5 before scoring the next seven points and never looked back. The Rivermen slowly added to their lead the entire half, pushing it to as many as 16 points at 41-25 after a layup from Jonathan Griffin with 2:20 left in the half.

The Rivermen poured it on in the second half with 50 points, shooting 65.5% from the field in the half including 6-of-11 from three-point range. The Rivermen pushed their lead out to 21 points at 55-34 in the first five minutes of the half. Harris Stowe cut the lead down to 12 points at 55-43, but that was as close as the Hornets would get the rest of the game. UMSL would close out the game by scoring 12 of the final 17 points to win 90-66.

UMSL was led by Jonathan Griffin with 16 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Aaron Green (St. Louis, Mo./Riverview Gardens) scored 15 points and Sherome Cole (Sikeston, Mo./Richland) came off the bench to add 13 points. Chris Mroz (Chicago, Ill./St. Patrick) had a game-high seven assists and ten points. The Rivermen dominated inside, outscoring the Hornets 43-18 in the paint and outrebounded Harris Stowe 42-32 as the Rivermen committed just nine turnovers in the game.

The Rivermen are now 1-2 on the season and will be at home this weekend to host Saint Joseph’s on Friday, November 26, at 7:30 pm, and will then host Wisconsin-Parkside on Sunday, November 28, at 3 pm.