ST. LOUIS, MO. – The Kentucky Wesleyan College men's basketball team embarked into a high-leverage contest on Wednesday afternoon against the University of Missouri – St. Louis. Wesleyan lost the back-and-forth non-conference battle 72-59 despite a near perfect afternoon from LaVonte Harris. 
 
The Panthers (4-2) suffered their second loss of the season in a game that featured five ties and eight lead changes. Wesleyan awoke from its three-point slumber in hitting 11 threes on the day. The prowess from distance kept the Panthers knotted at 36 after the first 20 minutes of play. 
 
The Tritons scored the first six points of the game, but the rest of the half neither team held more than a four-point lead. In the final minute of the half UMSL clung to a three-point lead, but Armandas Plintauskas nailed his third shot from distance to tie the game at the break. 
 
The Tritons, a NCAA Tournament team a year ago, scored the first bucket of the second half, but Plintauskas connected again from the perimeter to give the Panthers a 39-38 lead. After a UMSL miss on the next possession a quick outlet from Fatih Huyuk found Plintauskas for an easy layup. 
 
Six straight points by the Tritons reestablished a three-point lead for UMSL, 44-41. Like before Plintauskas dropped-in another three, tying the game at 44. The contest remained within two possessions for a majority of the second half, until the final six minutes. The closing stretch belonged to the Tritons as the edged ahead from the charity stripe. 
 
Plintauskas finished with 21 points, going six of seven from the three-point line. LaVonte Harris hit all five of his field goals, all from the perimeter to add 15 points. His lone miss on the day came at the free throw line. Huyuk grabbed eight rebounds while Jorge Sanchez-Ramos dished out five assists. Wesleyan committed 20 turnovers to UMSL's 12 on the day. In addition, the Panthers connected on half of their free throw attempts. 
 
After the Holiday, the Panthers will open Great Midwest action with a match-up in Columbus, Ohio on Thursday December 4^th. Tip-off at Ohio Dominican is scheduled for 6:30PM CT. The game will be streamed live on Flo College. 
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