UMSL Shoots Past Lincoln
Rivermen Win 104-80
St. Louis, Mo. – The Missouri-St. Louis men’s basketball team got off to a quick start and never looked back, winning 104-80 over Lincoln (6-18) on Wednesday night. The Rivermen were led by Jonathan Griffin (St. Louis, Mo./Normandy) with 33 points on the night, including 16-of-17 from the free throw line. UMSL (8-16) took advantage of 24 teams fouls against Lincoln, including six technical fouls in the game against the Blue Tigers.
UMSL got off to a quick start in the first half, scoring the first seven points of the game and led 12-3 just four minutes into the game. UMSL continued to push the ball up the floor, and after three pointer by Sherome Cole (Sikeston, Mo./Richland), UMSL led by 14 points at 23-9 with 12 minutes remaining. The Rivermen continued to hold a double-digit lead, pushing it out to a 17-point margin after four straight free throws from Jonathan Griffin gave UMSL a 36-19 lead. Lincoln would claw back into the game, cutting the UMSL lead down to six points at 40-34 with under three minutes left in the half. UMSL would push their lead back to double digits and led by nine points, 47-38, at halftime. In that first half, UMSL was hitting from everywhere on the floor, including 7-of-12 shooting (.583) from three-point range and 65.4% (17-of-26) overall from the field.
In the second half, Lincoln quickly cut the lead down to just six points in the opening minutes, and had it down to just five points at 65-50 with 14:17 left in the game. UMSL responded by scoring the next nine points, getting the first five from Jonathan Griffin, a bucket from Derrell Minner (New Madrid, Mo./New Madrid Central) and a layup by Sherome Cole for a 14-point lead at 69-55. The Rivermen were never threatened after that, as Lincoln got no closer than 10 points the rest of the game. The biggest suspense late in the second half was the Rivermen pursuit of 100 points, which was eclipsed after Ike Attah (Port Harcourt, Nigeria) scored five straight points, getting a three pointer and a rebound basket to push UMSL past the century mark in a 104-80 victory.
UMSL had five players in double figures, led by Jonathan Griffin with 33 points, including 5-of-7 shooting from three-point range, and six rebounds. Sherome Cole scored 15 points off the bench and David Ward (Maryland Heights, Mo./DeSmet) had 13 points and eight rebounds. Aaron Green (St. Louis, Mo./Riverview Gardens) added 11 points, Joey Paul (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park) scored 10 points and Derrell Minner had eight points and 11 rebounds. The Rivermen shot 81.1% (30-of-37) from the free throw line in the game and hit 55.4% (31-of-56) from the field, which included a season best 12 three pointers.
The Rivermen improve to 8-16 on the season and will host Southern Indiana on Saturday at 3 pm, in the final home game of the season.