(ST. LOUIS, Mo., Nov. 29)—The McKendree University men's basketball team opened the Great Lakes Valley Conference portion of its 2018-19 schedule with an 87-55 loss Thursday night at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
 
Senior guards Nate Michael (St. Joseph, IL/St. Joseph-Ogden) and Giovanni Offard (Freeport, IL/Freeport) each scored 10 points to lead a balanced attack for McKendree, which moved to 2-3 on the season. Michael also added team-leading totals of six rebounds and four assists for the Bearcats, who will step back into conference play Saturday afternoon at Maryville University. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.
 
Missouri-St. Louis (7-1, 1-0 GLVC) rode the strength of a strong shooting performance in Thursday's victory over McKendree. The Tritons scorched the nets for 62.3 percent shooting in the contest (38-of-61), including a 68.8 percent clip (22-of-32) in the first half in building a 48-26 lead at the intermission.
 
The teams traded baskets in the opening minutes before UMSL reeled off eight consecutive points to take a 15-6 lead with 14:03 left in the first half. After a three-pointer by Offard slowed the Tritons' run, Missouri-St. Louis scored the next 10 points to stretch the margin to 25-9 miday through the period. McKendree fought back and used back-to-back three-pointers from sophomore forward Jacob Donaldson (Effingham, IL/Effingham) to trim the deficit to 33-21 with just under seven minutes left until halftime.
 
After UMSL took its 22-point lead at the half, McKendree came out and chipped away at the deficit in the opening moments of the second half. The Bearcats opened the period on a 10-2 run to pull within 50-36 with 15:28 remaining. Junior guard Logan Kohrmann (Bartelso, IL/Breese Central) keyed the burst for McKendree, scoring six of the 10 points. But UMSL answered back with a 14-2 spurt of its own to push the margin out to 64-38 with just over 10 minutes left.
 
Ronnie Carson came off the bench to lead UMSL with 19 points, while Jason Towery and Johnathan Matthews each connected for 17 points. Shane Wissink dished out a game-high eight assists for the Tritons, who will visit Lebanon on Jan. 12.