Greyhounds Beat Rivermen by a Nose

Green Scores 20; Ward Sets Career Highs with 13 Points, Nine Rebounds

St. Louis, Mo. – The Missouri-St. Louis men’s basketball team fell to Indianapolis 73-68 on Saturday afternoon. UMSL was led by Aaron Green (St. Louis, Mo./Riverview Gardens) with 20 points on the night and David Ward (Maryland Heights, Mo./DeSmet) added a career high 13 points and nine rebounds.

Indianapolis sprinted out to a quick lead, scoring the first nine points of the game, and led by 11 points at 16-5 seven minutes into the first half. The Rivermen fought back, going on a 17-2 run over the next six and a half minutes to take the lead. Six different Rivermen hit a basket during that drive, led by Aaron Green, who scored five straight points during one stretch, giving UMSL its first lead on a three-point play. Jonathan Griffin (St. Louis, Mo./Normandy) followed that with a three pointer to end the run that gave UMSL the 22-18 lead. UMSL would hold that two-point lead late in the half with Indianapolis scored six straigtht points to reclaim the lead at 33-29. After an exchange of layups, Jonathan Griffin then hit a three pointer to close the half as UMSL trailed by one point, 35-34, at the break.

The Greyhounds got a quick start again in the second half, scoring the first four points, before UMSL responded with another big run. The Rivermen went on a 9-0 run to retake the lead. David Ward started the run with a layup, followed by a jumper from Aaron Green. Another bucket by Green gave the lead back to UMSL, and a three-point play by Ward extended that lead to four points at 43-39. Indianapolis then scored 11 straight points over the next four minutes to take a seven-point lead at 50-43 as David Logan scored six of those 11 points. The Greyhounds would give that lead up again on yet another big run by the Rivermen. UMSL trailed by six points before using a 10-0 run over the next three minutes, getting six of those ten points from Aaron Green, to lead 61-57 with six minutes to play. UMSL then led by five, 63-58, when the Greyhounds got back-to-back three point field goals to take the lead for good at 64-63, and hit a perfect seven-of-seven from the free throw line in the final three minutes to secure the 73-68 win.

UMSL was led in scoring by Aaron Green with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting. David Ward had career bests of 13 points and nine rebouinds, hitting 6-of-9 from the field, and Chris Mroz (Chicago, Ill./St. Patrick) added 11 points off the bench. Jonathan Griffin scored eight points on the night, as his string of double-digit scoring ended at 39 games. Indianapolis was led by David Logan with a game high 32 points and 10 assists on the night.

The Rivermen fall to 2-10 on the season and 1-7 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. UMSL will be on the road next weekend to play at Wisconsin-Parkside on Thursday, January 13, and at Lewis on Saturday, January 15.