UMSL Falls Short in Upset Bid of 12th-Ranked Quincy

St. Louis, Mo. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men’s basketball team came up short in their bid to upset 12th-ranked Quincy, falling 76-69 against the Hawks on Thursday night.

UMSL jumped out to a quick lead in the opening minutes, getting a breakaway layup off the opening tip and led 9-2 in the opening six minutes of the game. Quincy would battle back and tie the game at 15-15 and took the lead on their next possession. UMSL responded with a three pointer from Troy Slaten to lead 18-17 with eight minutes left in the half. Quincy would get the lead back and used an 11-2 run over the last five minutes of the half to take a 36-25 lead going into halftime.

In the second half, the Rivermen would start chipping away at the Hawks’ lead, getting within six points at 43-37 after a jumper by Brett Ledbetter and after a pair of free throws by Ledbetter with 10:48 left, UMSL was within one at 45-44. The Hawks then scored the next seven points to open up their lead before UMSL climbed back in the game again. Ledbetter hit a three pointer with 3:14 remaining to pull the Rivermen within three at 61-58, but Quincy hit 8-of-12 from the line in the last three minutes to hold on for the 76-69 victory.

UMSL was led by Brett Ledbetter with 30 points, hitting 9-of-17 from the field and a perfect 8-for-8 from the line for his second game of 30 or more points this season. Troy Slaten added 18 points, hitting 6-of-18 from the field and pulled down a team high five rebounds and had four steals.

The Rivermen fell to 5-5 on the season and 1-2 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference with the loss. UMSL will be in action again on Saturday when they host SIU Edwardsville on Saturday at 7:30 pm