QUINCY, Ill. - The Hawks were back on the home hardwood after kicking off the conference slate on the road last weekend, hosting the Tritons of University of Missouri-St. Louis for a Thursday evening (Dec. 7) contest in Pepsi Arena. All five starters for Quincy scored in double figures, including a double-double performance from Mason Wujek, but it wasn't enough to get over the hump in a 75-66 defeat at the hands of the Tritons. 

UMSL scored the first six points of the game before John Kelly III dialed up three of his team-leading 15 points to slice the deficit in half. Later in the first half, Missouri-St. Louis built a 24-14 advantage until another Kelly three ball sandwiched by two long-range splashes from Isaiah Foster pulled QU within one at 24-23. The Tritons outscored Quincy by four in the final seven minutes to take a 37-32 edge into halftime. 

The Hawks hung around for nearly all of the second half, keeping within a possession for the majority of the frame, but never finding a way to combine stops with buckets to take a lead as UMSL held off Quincy down the stretch for the win. 

Joining Kelly in double figures was Foster with 13, Nate Shockey and Wujek with 11 and Zion Richardson with 10. 60 of the Hawks 66 points came from the starting lineup as well 23 of the teams 29 rebounds. 

In addition to the 11 points, Wujek pulled down 10 rebounds, good for over a third of Quincy's boards in the contest and the teams first double-double performance of the season. 

QU shot 43% (22-51) from the field as a team and an even better 45% (10-22) from behind the three-point line. In addition, a 75% (12-16) from the charity stripe served as a big improvement from the free throw shooting woes the Hawks faced in past games this season. 

Next on the docket for the Hawks is a GLVC showdown with the Bearcats of McKendree University on Saturday (Dec. 8). Tip-off from Pepsi Arena is slated for 3:00 PM.