Slaten Buries Miners with 41 Points in UMSL Win

St. Louis, Mo. – Troy Slaten scored a career high 41 points, including 29 points in the second half, to lead UMSL to an 87-81 win over Missouri-Rolla on Tuesday night. It marked the second straight game an UMSL played scored 40 points after Brett Ledbetter had 42 in a loss at Kentucky Wesleyan on Saturday.

The first half saw Missouri-Rolla get the early lead with a 29-18 advantage with 5:33 left in the half. The Miners led by ten points with 2:44 left but UMSL closed the first half strong, using a 9-4 run to get within five points at 38-33 at halftime. UMR got the first bucket in the second half before UMSL responded with a 10-2 run over the next three mintues to get their first lead since early in the first half. David Ward got the run started with a layup and Troy Slaten had two buckets during that stretch as UMSL took a 43-42 lead. The game went back and forth the next several minutes and the Miners took a 62-61 lead before UMSL made another big run. Brett Ledbetter got a bucket to start the run, before Troy Slaten caught fire. Slaten hit a three pointer, and on the next possession was fouled on a three-point attempt and converted on all three free throws before assisting on a three pointer by Ledbetter that gave UMSL a 72-62 lead. UMR would get within five points late in the game but UMSL converted on free throws down the stretch and took the 87-81 win.

Troy Slaten led UMSL with a career high 41 points, hitting 11-of-18 from the field, 7-of-11 from three-point range and was 12-of-12 from the line. It marked the seventh highest single game scoring total in UMSL history, and was the third 40-point game by an UMSL played this year. Brett Ledbetter added 18 points and seven assists and Octavious Hawkins had a game-high 12 rebounds.

The Rivermen improve to 9-12 on the season and 4-9 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. UMSL will be at home again on Thursday, February 8, when they host Southern Indiana at 7:30 pm.