ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Up by 13 midway through the second half, Missouri S&T was unable to hang onto the lead and dropped a
75-71 decision to Maryville in Great Lakes Valley Conference action.
The Miners led 53-40 with 11:38 to play, but the Saints used a 13-0 run to tie the score and held off the Miners down the stretch to send S&T to its seventh straight defeat.
The Saints led for a good portion of the first half, holding as much as a nine-point lead at 28-19 with 7:13 to play in the first half. But over the final 6:15 of the period, the Miners outscored Maryville 14-4, taking the lead on
Danylo Zuikov (Kiev, Ukraine/LaLumiere School)'s three-point basket with 1:43 to go.
S&T would lead 37-34 at the intermission, hitting six-of-11 from three-point range during the first 20 minutes of play.
When the second half began, the Miners pushed the advantage out to 11 when
Clement Bonardo (LaFarlede, France/Costebelle) knocked down a three-pointer at the 14:06 mark. A little over two minutes later,
Desmond Buerge (Carthage, Mo./Carthage) hit a three to extend the lead to 13 at 53-40.
But after S&T opened up the 13-point lead, the Saints rattled off 13 straight, as Trae Pemberton scored and Jeff Leeson scored three straight times, followed by baskets by Saikou Jallow and a game-tying basket on a fast break by Pemberton to tie the game with 7:46 to go.
Zuikov halted the run with a three-pointer out of corner to put S&T back into the lead, then an emphatic dunk by Bonardo extended the lead to five.
The Saints responded with the next six points, regaining the lead on two free throws by Pemberton, but
Michael Nesbitt (Evansville, Ind./LaLumiere School) hit a baseline jumper to give S&T a 60-59 lead with just over five minutes to play.
Pemberton hit two more free throws at the 4:27 mark to put Maryville back in front, then after Forrester Sims scored on a driving lay-up,
Curtis Okafor (Kansas City, Mo./Bishop Miege) converted a three-point play with 3:38 left to knot the score at 63.
Bonardo drove to the basket to score with 2:36 left to give S&T a 65-64 advantage, but the Saints went back in front at the free throw line when Max Mischkulnig hit two at the 2:18 mark.
S&T was down by two with under 30 seconds to play and forced a missed shot, but Michkulnig got the rebound for the Saints and forced the Miners to foul. Sims hit two free throws to extend the lead to four.
The Miners trailed 71-68 in the waning seconds, but were called for an illegal screen before getting a shot off. After Pemberton hit two free throws to make it a five-point game, the Miners got the margin to two with under three seconds left after Buerge sunk a three-pointer.
However, Sims knocked down two free throws to ice the win for the Saints (10-8, 5-4 GLVC).
S&T (8-9, 1-8 GLVC) had balanced scoring in the contest, led by Bonardo with 13 points and Zuikov with 11. Nine different Miners scored in the game, as
Zach Ellis (St. Louis, Mo./Whitfield School) added nine points and Nesbitt and Buerge had eight apiece.
The Miners shot 45.3 percent for the game – going 11-of-18 from three-point range -- and outrebounded the Saints 31-25, but were guilty of 20 turnovers.
Pemberton led all scorers in the game with 31 points for the Saints; he was Maryville's only player in double figures. The Saints finished the game at 56.5 percent from the field.
The Miners open a four-game homestand Thursday when they host Quincy in a 7:30 p.m. contest at Billy Key Court.