Second Half Dry Spell Leads to UMSL Loss

Highland Heights, Ky. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men’s basketball team got off to a slow start at the beginning of the second half, and fell 68-53 at Northern Kentucky on Saturday.

The game was a back-and-forth battle in the first half, with a total of six ties and six lead changes in the opening 15 minutes of play. Brett Ledbetter hit a three-point field goal to put UMSL up 7-5 in the first four minutes and UMSL would regain the lead again later with a pair of free throws from Ledbetter at the 10:57 mark. NKU the retook the lead and went up by five but UMSL came back again and tied it at 26-26 on a pair of free throws by David Ward. The Norse then got up by nine points before UMSL closed out the half with five straight points and went into halftime trailing 36-32. NKU scored the first five points in the second half to quickly regain a nine-point lead as the Norse opened the half with a 15-2 run in the first seven minutes of the half to take control of the game. NKU went on from there for the 68-53 win over UMSL.

UMSL was led by David Ward with 12 points and Octavious Hawkins had 10 points in the game. The Rivermen fall to 5-9 on the season and 1-6 in the GLVC.

UMSL will return to action on Thursday, January 18, when they host Lewis University at 7:30 pm. Prior to tipoff, the University of Missouri-St. Louis Atheltic Department will hold the official dedication of Chuck Smith Court.