The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team earned its third straight trip to the postseason under head coach Steve Tappmeyer, Thursday night, thanks to an impressive 79-70 victory over GLVC rival Quincy at the QU Pepsi Arena.
UMSL, which led from start to finish and never trailed against the Hawks, got a huge night from guards Darian Cartharn and Joshua McCoy, who combined for 45 points to lead the Triton offense.
Cartharn, the junior from Canal Winchester, Ohio, had a game-high 23 points, including five three-pointers. While McCoy, a senior from St. Peters, added 22 points, including a 9-of-10 night from the free throw line.
UMSL wasted no time jumping out on Quincy, as Cartharn and McCoy combined to score the first 14 points of the game for the Tritons, which helped the visitors build a 14-2 lead just four minutes into the game.
Quincy answered with an 8-0 run over the next three minutes to get as close as 14-10.
But that four-point deficit was as close as the Hawks would get in the first half, as UMSL eventually went into the break leading by nine at 42-33.
In the second half, Quincy got as close as six points early, but an UMSL 14-5 run midway through pushed to Tritons to their biggest lead of the night at 62-47 with 9:35 left in the game.
From that point on, UMSL was never really in an danger, although Quincy did get to within 75-70 with 34 seconds left in the game.
But Cartharn and fellow junior Michael Weber sank four straight free throws in the final 30 seconds to put the game away for good.
The victory raised UMSL's overall record to 16-8, and gave the Tritons their third straight win over Quincy and first series sweep over the Hawks since the 1998-99 season.
Quincy is now 11-13 on the year.
UMSL will be back in action for its final home game of the season on Saturday, when the Tritons will host Illinois-Springfield in a 3 p.m. game at the Mark Twain Gym.
That day, UMSL will celebrate Senior Day and honor its four seniors, McCoy, Vinnie Raimondo, Justin Jones, and Isiah Nunn.
SCORING SUMMARY
Score by Half ............. 1 ... 2 -- Final Score
UMSL ......................... 42 . 37 -- 79
Quincy ...................... 33 . 37 -- 70
Individual Scorers
UMSL -- Darian Cartharn 23, Joshua McCoy 22, Michael Weber 10, Justin Jones 6, Isiah Nunn 6, Vinnie Raimondo 5, Kevin Dwyer 4, Neil Branham 3.
Quincy -- Chris Babbitt 19, Tyler Thompson 17, Dalton Hoover 15, Ryan Stuckman 6, Grant Meyer 5, Nate DesJardins 3, Jordan Wilson 3, Scott Hahn 2.
Comments