Senior guard Victor Nwagbaraocha scored 18 points as UMSL knocked off No. 4 Indianapolis on “Pack the Stands” night. (Photo by Patrick Clark/Athlete’s Eye Photography)
Men’s Basketball
The University of Missouri–St. Louis upset fourth-ranked Indianapolis 64-57 Thursday night in front of a spirited crowd on “Pack the Stands” night at the Mark Twain Athletic Center to snap its four-game losing streak. The victory also snapped the Greyhounds’ 18-game winning streak. The Tritons led 33-27 at intermission and held off a second-half charge by UIndy when Matt Enright and Trever Moore hit back-to-back three’s to give UMSL an eight-point lead with 6:39 remaining. The Greyhounds, who matched their season-low in points and shot only 41% from the field, never got closer than five points the rest of the way. Victor Nwagbaraocha scored a team-high 18 points in the victory. Bowen Sandquist joined him in double figures with 10 points. The Tritons couldn’t carry the momentum of Thursday’s victory into its regular-season finale and lost 78-74 at home Saturday against McKendree on Senior Day. The Bearcats made 9 of 21 3-pointers and shot 50% from the field. Isaiah Fuller led three UMSL players in double figures with 27 points in the victory, and Nwagbaraocha had 14 points. But the Tritons were outscored 43-32 in the second half while shooting only 39.4% from the field. They fell out of third place in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Point Rating System and will be seeded fifth when the conference tournament tips off later this week at Lindenwood’s Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Missouri. UMSL (19-9, 11-9 GLVC) will take on fourth-seeded Rockhurst at noon Friday in a quarterfinal contest.
Women’s Basketball
The Tritons closed out their season with back-to-back home losses against Indianapolis 65-63 on Thursday and McKendree 86-79 on Saturday. It stretched the team’s losing streak to five games. Jalysa Stokes led four UMSL players in double figures with 18 points against the Greyhounds, Amaya Blake scored 15 and Morgan Ramthun and Kiara Stewart added 11 and 10 points, respectively, but the Tritons shot only 37% from the field and were outscored 41-29 in the second half. Stokes, Ramthun, Blake and Stewart all reached double figures again against the Bearcats with Stokes scoring a team-high 18 points. But UMSL found itself playing from behind much of the contest after being outscored 22-10 in the second quarter. The Tritons trailed by as many as 12 points in the final quarter, and McKendree shot 58.2% for the game. UMSL’s season ended when Quincy scored on a last-second shot at Rockhurst to move past the Tritons (9-17, 7-13 GLVC) in the GLVC Point Rating System that determined the eight teams for the conference tournament.
Men’s and Women’s Track and Field
Jacob Warner placed sixth in the men’s 5,000-meter race at the GLVC Indoor Track and Field Championships, held Saturday and Sunday at UIndy’s Athletic Recreation Center. Warner picked up three points for the UMSL men’s team while finishing the race in a time of 15 minutes, 15.67 seconds. The distance medley relay team of Toby Middleton, Michael Wright, Gavin Love and Benjamin VandenBrink secured the Tritons’ only other points of the meet when they finished seventh in the event. Haeley Johnson competed in the long jump and 60-meter dash on the women’s side, and Kennedy Moore ran in the 200 meters. But neither cracked the top eight to score points. Neither did Warner, VandenBrink or Brett Lynch running Sunday in the men’s 3,000 meters with Warner the top UMSL finisher in 11th place. The Tritons will open their outdoor track season March 18 in the Central Methodist Open in Fayette, Missouri.
Softball
UMSL split games against Concordia-St. Paul and Emporia State last Monday to wrap up the Emporia State Classic, then went 1-3 over the weekend in the Washburn Invitational in Topeka, Kansas. The Tritons lost to Nebraska-Kearney (7-5) and Pittsburg State (7-2) on Saturday before knocking off Southwest Minnesota State (5-0) and falling to Emporia State (5-1) on Sunday. Annie Scaramuzzi held Southwest Minnesota State to four hits and struck out six in her seven shutout innings during the lone UMSL win in the Washburn Invitational. First baseman Courtney Settles helped back her with the first home run of the season. UMSL (4-6) will play host to Davenport for a double-header on Thursday in their home opener.
Baseball
The Tritons opened their home schedule by splitting a four-game series against Minnesota Crookston, winning the opener 4-2 on Friday, losing 7-1 and winning 7-6 in nine innings during Saturday’s doubleheader, and falling 8-2 on Sunday. Cody Brooks’ last 5 1/3 innings and yielded only one run while collecting the victory in Friday’s win. Justin Simard led the offense with three hits, scored twice and added an RBI. UMSL scored twice on wild pitches in the ninth inning to rally in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader. Leighton Keller and Mitchell Green both drove in two runs in the victory. The Tritons (4-8) will play host to Winona State in a four-game series beginning Friday.
Women’s Golf
UMSL’s 15th-ranked women’s golf team opened its spring schedule by placing eighth in last week’s Southern Invitational, a 54-hole tournament hosted by Central Oklahoma last Monday and Tuesday at Cypresswood Golf Club’s Cypress Course in Houston, Texas. The Tritons finished with a team total of 327. Freshman Wilma Zanderau placed in a tie for 16th with a total of 224 and was named the GLVC Women’s Golfer of the Week. She edged teammate Tove Brunell by one shot for the team lead, and Brunell finished in a tie for 20th. UMSL returns to the links on March 12 as its hosts the Emerald Coast Classic at Sandestin-Baytowne Golf Club in Destin, Florida.
Men’s Tennis
The Tritons fell 5-2 against Southern Indiana on Friday in Evansville, Indiana, and were trailing 1-0 against Missouri Valley when rain forced the cancellation of Sunday’s match in Marshall, Missouri. UMSL won the doubles point against the Eagles on Friday as the teams of Jose Mayorga/Joshua Mackey and Juan Vigil/Raphael Kerndl won 6-3 and 6-2, respectively. Mackey delivered the Tritons’ lone victory in singles when he pulled out a 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-5) at No. 4 singles. UMSL will take on Quincy on Saturday at the UMSL Tennis Courts.
Women’s Tennis
UMSL lost 4-3 against Southern Indiana on Friday and was leading 3-0 Sunday against Missouri Valley when rain forced the match to be canceled. Anna Domingo, Hannah Tse and Anna Favaron each won singles matches with Domingo needing a match tiebreaker to pull out her 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (10-7) victory at No. 1 singles. UMSL will next face Quincy on Saturday at the UMSL Tennis Courts.
Men’s and Women’s Swimming
The Tritons will send six swimmers to the NCAA Division II Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships scheduled for March 7-11 at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis. Jon Osa will be competing in the 100- and 200-yard backstroke as well as the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly. Conley Savage qualified to swim in the 200 butterfly and will also be swimming in the 200 individual medley, the 400 individual medley and the 200 backstroke. Reigning All-American Zara Konstapel will be swimming in the 100 and 200 breastrokes. Aiden Clark, David Reynolds and Austin Stevenson will join Osa to compete in the 200 free relay and 400 free relay.
