February 24, 2008

Men's Basketball Falls at No. 7 Drury, 66-58

BOX SCORE

SPRINGFIELD, MO. – Senior David Ward scored 16 points to lead three University of Missouri-St. Louis men’s basketball players in double figures, but in the end No. 7 ranked Drury defeated the Tritons, 66-58, Sunday afternoon in Great Lakes Valley Conference action.

Senior Paul Paradoski and junior Adam Kaatman chipped in 12 and 11 points, respectively for UMSL. The Tritons, who are in the midst of a four-game road swing that will close out the season, fall to 9-16 on the season, including 4-13 in the GLVC.

Drury won its sixth straight game to improve to 22-3 overall, including 15-2 in the league.

The Panthers used a 10-4 run in the second half to slowly pull away from the Tritons. After junior Nathan Whittaker nailed a three-pointer in the corner to pull UMSL within 51-48, Drury went on its run to take a 61-52 lead with 3:36 to play.

Kaatman and Ward knocked in consecutive buckets to cut the deficit to 61-56 with just over two minutes to play, but Chris Ijames’ three-pointer with 1:42 to play widened the Pathers’ lead once again.

UMSL clung to a 29-28 halftime lead after a first half that saw three ties and six lead changes. Drury made four of its first eight field goals to take a 13-6 lead seven minutes into the game before the Tritons went on a 14-7 run and took an 18-15 lead on a Ward bucket at the 6:20 mark. Ward scored all eight of his first half points during that stretch.

The Panthers’ Collins Harris then scored five straight points to give Drury a 22-20 lead with five minutes to play before the Tritons ended the half by outscoring the Panthers 9-6.

The Tritons were playing their second game in less than 24 hours after winning at Rockhurst yesterday afternoon. This contest was originally scheduled for Thursday night, but weather forced the game to be rescheduled for today.

Ward moved into 19th place all-time at UMSL with 930 career points, moving past Steve Roder (1989-93; 916 points) and Bob McCormack (1981-85; 917 points).

The Tritons finished the contest shooting 51.2 percent, while Drury shot at an even 50 percent clip and held a 25-22 rebounding advantage.

UMSL returns to action Tuesday at Missouri S&T in a 7:30 p.m. contest.

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