Second-half struggles offensively send QU men to fifth consecutive loss

ST. LOUIS — Another drought, another loss.

It’s a trend the Quincy University men’s basketball team cannot shake.

The Hawks were tied with Missouri-St. Louis at 42 with 13 minutes remaining in regulation of Saturday’s Great Lakes Valley Conference game when the offense went south. Quincy managed just two free throws over an eight-minute stretch, falling behind by 11 points and suffering a 61-55 loss at the Mark Twain Building.

The Hawks missed 12 consecutive shots during that stretch, including misfiring on six 3-point attempts.

Quincy went 1 of 12 from 3-point range in the second half (8.3 percent) and shot just 29 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes. Overall, the Hawks went 6 of 21 from 3-point range (28.6 percent) and are shooting 31.1 percent from beyond the arc for the season.

A fifth consecutive loss drops the Hawks to 10-13 overall and 5-10 in the GLVC.

While Quincy scuffled offensively, UMSL (10-13, 8-7 GLVC) found ways to score.

The Tritons took the lead for good on back-to-back layups by Emanuel Prospere II and went 5 of 7 from the field with three assists. UMSL had six assists in the second half and 13 overall. QU managed just seven assists — the third straight game with seven or fewer assists.

Zion Richardson led Quincy with 16 points and five rebounds, while Isaiah Foster had 12 points. No one else scored more than seven points. Matt Enright went 6 of 11 from 3-point range and led UMSL with 22 points.