March 01, 2008

Men's Basketball Ends Season With 81-62 Loss

BOX SCORE

EVANSVILLE, IND. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men’s basketball team lost an 81-62 verdict at Southern Indiana Saturday afternoon in Great Lakes Valley Conference action, brining its season to a close.

Junior Adam Kaatman led four Tritons in double figures with 15 points, while senior Paul Paradoski added 13. Juniors Tim Green and Nathan Whittaker each finished with 11 points.

The loss ends UMSL’s season at 10-17, including 5-14 in the GLVC, while Southern Indiana improves to 15-12, including 9-10 in the league and keeps its hopes alive for a berth in the GLVC Tournament pending the outcome of the Drury-Quincy game.

The Tritons jumped out to an 18-10 lead five minutes and 34 seconds into the game on a three-point play by Green. But, Southern Indiana would respond with 17 unanswered points to turn the deficit into a 27-18 advantage on a three-point bucket by Nick Duncheon with 9:04 to play.

After failing to score over a span of 5:38, junior Jason Black ended the Tritons’ drought with a lay-up at the 8:48 mark that started a 12-2 run, ending on a lay-up by senior David Ward, to pull UMSL within 30-29 with just over six minutes to play. However, Southern Indiana would take a 48-35 lead into halftime.

The Tritons finished the game shooting 45.5 percent from the field, while Southern Indiana shot at a 53.4 percent clip, including an even 50 percent from three-point range, and held a 35-25 rebounding edge. Green pulled down a team-best six rebounds.

The game also marks the end of the careers for UMSL seniors Paul DeChellis, Ward and Paradoski.

Ward concludes his four-year career with 944 points, which ranks 19th all-time.

Paradoski ends the season with 116 assists, which is the fourth best single season total in UMSL history.