St. Louis, Mo. -- The UMKC men's basketball team dropped a hard fought 61-54 decision at Saint Louis on Tuesday night at Chaifetz Arena.  The Kangaroos led 41-35 with 12:12 to play before the Billikens used a 15-2 run over a five minute span in what proved to be the difference in the game.

Three UMKC players finished in double digits with Trey McKinney-Jones leading the way with 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting.  LaTreze Mushatt finished with 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting, while Jay Couisnard added 10 points in the defeat. 

UMKC got off to a solid start, as it built an early 8-4 lead over the first four minutes.  SLU quickly evened the tally at eight at the 14:29 mark and the action was tied six more times in the opening half, including a 25 all score as the team's entered its locker rooms.

SLU's Kwamain Mitchell almost single handedly kept his squad in the game, as the guard connected for 13 first half points on 5-of-9 shooting.

Coming out of the break, McKinney-Jones scored nine of UMKC's 12 points over the first 6:40 to help his squad build a 38-35. Mushatt then followed with a three-point play at the 12:30 mark to put the 'Roos up six, 41-35.

The Billikens then awoke, as the squad used a 15-2 run to build a 51-43 lead.  Kansas City native Willie Reed opened the spurt with a free throw before Mitchell scored seven straight points to put SLU up 43-41 with 9:42 to play.

Following a UMKC technical foul, Christian Salecich made four straight free throws to make the score 47-41 before McKinney-Jones ended the 12-0 run with a short jumper to get the 'Roos to within four at 47-43.  Saint Louis then stretched its lead to eight points (51-43) courtesy of back-to-back lay-ups by Mitchell and Justin Jordan.

UMKC kept battling as the squad fought its way back to within four points (54-50) with 2:32 to play, but SLU made 7-of-8 free throws over the final 1:33 to pull out the seven point victory.

The 'Roos shot .412 (21-51) from the floor, but just .091 (1-11) from three-point land, while SLU finished with a .463 (19-41) field goal percentage and a .167 (2-12) mark from long range.  The biggest disparity came at the charity stripe where the Billikens made 21-of-37 free throws, while UMKC connected on 11-of-17 attempts.  SLU also won the battle on the boards, 35-28.

Mitchell was the only SLU player to finish in double digits, finishing with a career-high 33 points on 11-of-18 shooting.  The guard was 2-of-2 from long range and 9-of-15 from the charity stripe.

UMKC (6-5) will return to the St. Louis area on Dec. 28 when it plays at SIU Edwardsville.