First Half Run by Quincy Leads to UMSL Loss

David Ward Scores 17 Points in UMSL Loss

Quincy, Ill. – The Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team stayed even in the opening minutes, but the Hawks took a late first-half lead, outscoring UMSL 14-2 over the last four mintues of the first half, and held on for a 98-74 win over the Rivermen on Saturday night.

The Rivermen stayed close early in the game, as there were a total of six ties in the first seven minutes of the game and the largest lead for either team was four points over that span. UMSL got the scoring started with a three pointer from Joey Paul (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park). The teams then exchanged baskets for the first four minutes before UMSL took a four-point lead on a layup from David Ward (Maryland Heights, Mo./DeSmet). Quincy would come right back to tie it up again and the two teams were knotted up at 15-15 with 13 minutes left in the half. The Hawks then used an 11-2 run to jump out to a nine-point lead. The Rivermen would cut the deficit down to four points at 30-26 at the 4:19 mark on a jumper by Aaron Jackson (St. Louis, Mo./Hazelwood Central), but QU would close the half with a 14-2 run and took a 47-31 lead going into halftime. Quincy would push that lead out to as many as 28 points late in the second half to secure the 98-74 win.

UMSL was led by David Ward with 17 points on the night, hitting 5-of-8 from the field and 7-of-10 from the free throw line while pulling down a team best six rebounds. Jonathan Griffin (St. Louis, Mo./Normandy) and Aaron Jackson each had 14 points for the Rivermen as well.

The Rivermen are now 10-6 on the season and 4-5 in the GLVC. UMSL will be at home on Monday night when they host Robert Morris at 7:30 pm.