The William  Jewell men's basketball team nearly pulled an upset of No. 22 UW-Parkside on Saturday afternoon but fell just short, falling by a score of 79-75. The loss drops the Cards to 6-14 overall and 2-10 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. 

The Cardinals fell behind early 15-7 before two free throws from Patrick Whelan eventually tied the game at 15. From there senior Matt Lassen scored 15 of Jewell's final 18 points of the half to help keep the Cardinals in the game and trailing by just five at the break, 41-36. 

The Rangers came out of the intermission with a 13-2 run to push their lead to 14 at 54-40. UW-Parkside kept the Cardinals at bay most of the half until the final three minutes of play as Lassen scored four points and was aided by Emil Ostafiiciuc who grabbed two consecutive offensive rebound put-backs before hitting a free throw to tie the game at 74 with just 47 seconds remaining. 

Back-to-back fouls at the other end of the floor gave the Rangers a three point lead with three seconds to play. Patrick Whelan hit one of two free throws to pull Jewell within two but the Cards were forced to foul again and UWP made the most of the opportunity, hitting both charity tosses and stole the ensuing inbounds pass to walk away victorious 79-75. 

Lassen led all scorers with a career-high 30 points on 11-of-17 from the floor, including 6-for-8 from behind the arc. Whelan added 19 points and nine rebounds while Ostafiiciuc posted a double-double of 15 points and 14 boards. As a team the Cardinals shot 45 percent and committed just ten turnovers on the night. 

Jewell will travel next weekend to Indianapolis on Thursday night followed by a match up with Saint Joseph's on Saturday afternoon.