LIBERTY, Mo. - The William Jewell men's basketball team got two shots off with under 11 seconds remaining but came up just short on Thursday night to Missouri-St. Louis by a final of 78-77. The Cardinals drop to 10-15 on the season and 7-10 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Cardinals came out a bit slow, falling behind 14-7 in the early minutes of the game. A three from Jason Thirdkill, Jr. started a 15-4 run that ended with a Kyle Scharbrough corner triple to put Jewell in front by four. A steal by Luke Jordan led to a Thirdkill slam that gave Jewell their biggest lead of the day at six points with four minutes to go in the half. UMSL finished on a 7-2 run to make it 48-47 in favor of the Cardinals at the break. 
• The Tritons came out of the intermission and quickly took the lead, growing it to as many as seven late in the game. Trailing 78-71 with under four minutes to go, Jewell got scores from Scharbrough, Jordan, and Thirdkill to pull back within a single point, 78-77, with one minute to play. The Tritons got an offensive rebound on a key missed free throw but committed an ill-timed turnover to give Jewell the ball in their front court with 11 seconds on the clock. Jewell's contested shot in the paint fell short but UMSL again missed a free throw with 1.5 ticks remaining keeping the Cardinals alive. Jewell got a solid look from half court as the buzzer sounded, but the shot went off the right side of the rim allowing UMSL to escape with the win.    

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Thirdkill, Jr. finished with a team high 27 points and 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. 
• Jordan, Bradley Lightbourne, and Jordan Jermain each scored 13 points while Scarbrough had 11. 
• The Cardinals shot 53% from the field and 43% from three but were just 8-of-13 (62%) from the free throw line. 

UP NEXT
Jewell will be back in the Mabee Center for the final time on Saturday as they host Lincoln University of Missouri for Senior Day at 3 p.m. The Cardinals will recognize