UMSL Falls to Missouri Southern in Season Opener

Joplin, Mo. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men’s basketball team dropped their season opener, falling 74-64 at Missouri Southern on Wednesday night. Troy Slaten led the team with 18 points and Brett Ledbetter had 16 points.

Missouri Southern jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead in the opening minutes and held on to lead through the whole first half. UMSL kept the game close, never trailing by more than six points in the half. Trailing 25-19 midway through the half, UMSL rallied with six straight points to tie the game at 25-25. Paul De Chellis started the run with a fast break layup and Troy Slaten capped it off with a layup to tie the game. MSSU would hold the lead and push it to four points before Slaten his a three-point field goal to end the first half and send UMSL to the lockerroom down by just one point, 37-36.

In the second half, UMSL tied it up again at 41-41 on another three pointer by Troy Slaten. After a jumper by the Lions made it 43-41, Slaten struck again with another three pointer to give UMSL its first lead of the game at 44-43 with 15:36 left in the game. UMSL would later take a three-point lead at 47-44 after a three pointer from Brett Ledbetter. Missouri Southern fought back and took the lead back at 50-48 with ten minutes left in the game and never gave up that lead again. The Lions slowly increased their lead to as many as 11 points at 65-54 with four minutes left before closing out the 74-64 win.

UMSL was led by Troy Slaten with 18 points on 6-of-15 shooting from the field. Brett Ledbetter had 16 points on the night and Octavious Hawkins pulled down a game-high 17 rebounds to go along with his four assists. UMSL starts the season with an 0-1 record and will be in action again on Tuesday, November 21, when they host Harris Stowe in their season opener at 7:30 pm.