Box Score
Kentucky Wesleyan is typically the team pressing the gas pedal against opponents.
On Saturday, the No. 9 Panthers were left having to claw their way back and overcome a 14-point deficit.
Missouri-St. Louis (7-4, 0-3 Great Lakes Valley Conference) led for nearly 38 minutes throughout the entire game, but KWC willed its way to a 72-71 win to remain unbeaten.
"We just kept fighting," senior guard Kreig Oxley said. "This isn't the first time our backs have been against the wall this year, and it's not going to be the last. In this conference, every game's going to be tough so we've just got to keep sticking together."
The 14-point deficit, which came with 8:43 left in the first half, tied the largest deficit the Panthers faced all season.
KWC responded from an early 14-point deficit against Concordia to win, 96-80. The Panthers also needed overtime to beat Shaw in the Glenn Young Invitational Championship game.
But for a team that came into Saturday's game outscoring opponents by an average of 21.1 points per game, it was still somewhat unfamiliar territory.
After Dazmond Starke missed two layups that could have given KWC a two-point lead, J.D. Danforth drew a five-second call on the defensive end to give KWC the ball back.
Rico Ferguson was fouled and made 1-of-2 free throws to give KWC a 72-71 lead with 14.3 seconds left.
UMSL's Michael Weber, who finished with 25 points on 5-of-8 shooting, missed a fade-away jumper and Neil Branham was called for a foul on the rebound with .8 seconds remaining.
Lucas Barker missed the front end, then missed the second free throw on purpose and UMSL wasn't able to get off a full-court heave as time expired, giving the Panthers the hard-fought one-point win.
"We all know this team's got a lot of fight and we're going to stick together," said Oxley, who finished the game with 12 points. "If our backs are against the wall, we're not going to go our separate ways. We're going to stay together. We knew it started on the defensive end."
For KWC, that started first with stopping Weber. The short-but-quick point guard torched KWC for 17 first half points on 4-of-4 shooting, all from 3-point range. He also went 5-for-5 at the free throw line in the first half.
He finished with eight second half points.
"Watching film, I don't think our guys understood how quick he is. He's a very quick player," Lee said. "He's got a good handle, he can shoot the 3 from NBA range. The other night he goes 0-for-2 against Southern Indiana, so I knew he'd come back and play well."
Besides stopping Weber, KWC also needed to find ways to overcome its own mistakes. Trailing 26-16 early on, Lee was whistled for a technical foul as his team was running the floor on a fast break. Weber converted both free throws for UMSL.
Near the end of the first half, Barker fouled Weber on 3-point attempt, which led to a four-point play. That put the halftime deficit for the Panthers at 13.
Later on, with 7:15 left to play, Donovan Johnson scored on a put-back to tie the game at 63-63 but was called for a technical foul as he ran down the court. Weber again converted both free throws, keeping UMSL ahead by a hair.
But thanks to a big night from Starke, who finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds, KWC edged out the win.
"It seemed like we were always battling," Lee said of overcoming obstacles. "I credit the guys for just hanging in there. Again, you're not always going to play well every night, but I give (UMSL) a lot of credit because they played really well, especially the first 25 or 30 minutes of the game."
