AUSTIN, Texas – Missouri S&T used an 24-4 finishing run Wednesday to post a 78-62 win over Southeastern Oklahoma State and gain a split of its two games at the St. Edward's Holiday Classic.

 

The Miners, playing one of their best overall games of the season, led by two at 60-58 with under eight minutes remaining when A.J. Mandani (Brampton, Ontario/) beat an expiring shot clock by hitting a three-pointer to extend the lead to five. The trey by Mandani started the game-ending run by the Miners, as S&T scored 11 straight points beginning with that basket as part of a 17-0 run.

 

S&T got a second opportunity on its next trip down the floor and converted it as Marquis Jones (St. Louis, Mo./Cardinal Ritter) nailed a three from the top of the key, then Mandani got a three-point play after making a steal. The Miners finished the 11-point run on another lay-in by Mandani, who ended the day with a career-high 21 points

 

Southeastern Oklahoma jumped out to a 10-point lead at the outset of the contest, leading 16-6 with 14:42 to play in the opening half. S&T answered with a 16-0 run that began with back-to-back three-pointers by Byron Bundy (Columbia, Mo./Hickman), then the Miners took their first lead of the game on a three by Jones with 11:37 to go.

 

Mike Malat (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon) hit two free throws with 4:26 to go to give the Miners their largest lead of the half of 36-25, but the Savage Storm cut the lead down to one late in the half before S&T took a two-point lead to the locker room.

 

The Savage Storm, who scored 11 straight points to open the second half in a loss Tuesday to St. Edward's, came out strong after the break again and regained the lead at 49-47 on a trey by Chris Roussell with 15:27 left. Bundy answered with a three to put S&T back in front, then the teams swapped the lead over the next six minutes.

 

Southeastern led 58-54 when the Miners got a dunk from Adam Knollmeyer (Linn, Mo./Linn) and two free throws from Bryce Foster (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central) to knot the score at 58. Moments later, DeJon Slaughter (Kansas City, Kan./Sumner Academy) tipped in a miss by Hank Harris (Topeka, Kan./Highland Park) to put the Miners in front for good at 60-58.

 

After missing one attempt to extend the lead, the Miners came out of the media timeout and nearly had the shot clock run out on them, but Mandani got his long-range shot away just before the buzzer sounded and hit it to push the lead to five.

 

S&T had four players finish in double figures, led by Mandani with a career-high 21 points and Bundy with a career-best 19. Foster added 16 and Jones had 10 for the Miners, who shot 46.4 overall but connected on 11 of their 20 three-point attempts.

 

Darrell Hicks led the Savage Storm with 20 points while Chibuzo Elonu had 18.

 

The Miners (4-6) return to Great Lakes Valley Conference play Saturday when they host Rockhurst in a 5 p.m. game at Billy Key Court.