The Miners hung with the 19^th-ranked team in NCAA Division II for much of the afternoon, but ran out of steam down the stretch and fell 74-63 to Southern Indiana at Billy Key Court.

 

Missouri S&T was tied with the Screaming Eagles at 52 with 12 minutes to go in the contest and still trailed by just one with 7:30 remaining, but a stretch of 12-plus minutes without a field goal prevented any hopes of an upset.

 

The Miners got out of the gate quickly, scoring the first eight points on a basket by Casey Noll (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville) and two three-pointers by Marquis Jones (St. Louis, Mo./Cardinal Ritter) in the first 81 seconds of the contest. However, the Eagles answered by scoring 11 straight to take the lead the game turned into a tight battle for the balance of the half.

 

S&T regained the lead at 14-13 in a half where there were seven lead changes and held as much as a six-point lead at 20-14 after another three by Jones at the 9:50 mark. USI scored seven straight points to get the lead back before a lay-in by Justin Taylor (Webster Groves, Mo./Webster Groves) put the Miners back in front.

 

Southern Indiana went back ahead for good in the first half on a three-pointer by Anthony Pimble with 5:15 to go and took a 35-33 lead into halftime.

 

USI retained its lead throughout the early minutes of the second half, but the Miners were able to claw back into the game. A jumper by Adam Knollmeyer (Linn, Mo./Linn) with 13:34 to go cut the lead to one, then after Tyrone Bradshaw made one of two at the line, Curtis Mosley (Chicago, Ill./) made two free throws at the 12:09 mark to even the game at 52.

 

About a minute later, Jamar Smith drained a three-pointer from the top of the key to put the Eagles ahead for good. S&T was able to get within a point on two occasions, but Knollmeyer's field goal ended up being the last for the Miners until Mosley hit a three-pointer with 56 seconds on the clock.

 

Jones led the Miners with 14 points, while Taylor finished with 12 and Mosley with 11. The Miners hit only 37 percent of their shots from the floor, including only 28 percent in the second half, after connecting on 48 percent of their shots in the first 20 minutes.

 

USI's Pimble led all scorers with 15 points as five Eagles finished in double figures.

 

The Miners (7-12, 2-9 GLVC) will return to action Thursday at Missouri-St. Louis.