UMSL Falls in Overtime to Drury

St. Louis, Mo. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men’s basketball team lost to visiting Drury, falling 91-87 in overtime. UMSL had four players in double figures in a balanced scoring attack, but it wasn’t enough to hold off the Panthers late in the game.

Drury had a five-point lead early in the first half of the game, leading 18-13. UMSL went on an 11-2 run over the next few minutes to grab the lead at 24-21 after a layup from Ty Adams with 9:48 left in the half. UMSL would hold that lead and extended it out to seven points at 40-33 after a pair of free throws by David Ward and led 42-37 at halftime.

The Rivermen opened the second half strong, using a 10-3 run in the opening four minutes to lead by 12 points at 52-40 after a layup by Nathan Whittaker. The Panthers would slowly chip away at that lead, and tied the game twice but UMSL refused to give up the lead. The Rivermen then went up by five points at 77-72 with just over two minutes remaining, but Drury hit a three pointer and got another bucket with 0:16 remaining to tie the game and send it to overtime. In the extra period, UMSL got the first lead on a bucket by Nathan Whittaker but Drury responded with a three pointer to take the lead and held on from there for the 91-87 win.

Four UMSL players scored in double figures for the Rivermen, led by Brett Ledbetter with 24 points and Troy Slaten had 20 points. David Ward had 14 points and a team-high six assists, and Nathan Whittaker had 12 points for the Rivermen.

UMSL falls to 9-15 on the season and is now 4-12 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Rivermen will host Rockhurst on Saturday at 7:30 pm in the final home game of the season.