St. Louis, MO --- The Parkside men's basketball team hit the road for the final time before the new year on Saturday afternoon, taking on the No. 5 ranked University of Missouri – St. Louis Tritons. The Rangers struggled to get going offensively, falling by a final score of 83-61.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
-       Rasheed Bello finished with a game-high 28 points on 9-18 shooting. He knocked down five threes. 23 of Bello's points came in the second half. 
-       Jamir Simpson finished with 17 points on the night, while also pulling down five rebounds. 
-       Parkside shot a season-low 35.8% on the night.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Rangers struggled to find an offensive rhythm all night long. Parkside was able to tie the game after the Tritons scored on the opening possession when Simpson finished off a putback layup. The first half was low scoring for both teams, but UMSL was able to slowly build up a 13-1 run over five minutes to build a 15-3 lead with 11:08 to go in the half. 
 
Parkside was able to cut the Tritons' lead to single digits with just over four and a half minutes to go in the half when Jacksun Hamilton hit a three. UMSL was able to answer, however, extending their lead to 32-17 at the half. The Tritons hit nine more field goals than the Rangers in the half. 
 
Parkside was able to cut back into the UMSL lead early in the second half, cutting it to 43-35 with 13:51 to go on a Simpson jumper in the paint. The Rangers were unable to build any more momentum as UMSL built their lead back out, ending the Parkside winning streak at six games. 
 
The Rangers will return home to resume GLIAC play against Grand Valley State on Thursday, January 5 at 7:30 pm inside De Simone Arena. Links to coverage, including the live stream through FloSports can be found at ParksideRangers.com/coverage.