Playing shorthanded throughout the night, the Missouri S&T men's basketball team was unable to handle Mid-Continent's pressure and wound up on the losing end of an 83-75 decision Tuesday evening at Billy Key Court.

 

The Miners dropped the non-conference affair in large part due to 30 turnovers against an aggressive defense, which the visiting Cougars turned into 41 points. S&T also gave up 21 second chance points in the game despite having a 10-rebound edge in the final stats.

 

S&T trailed by eight with 3:37 left in the first half, but outscored the Cougars 15-4 to close the half with a 36-33 lead. The Miners were able to retain the lead through the early minutes of the second half, extending it to as many as six after Marquis Jones (St. Louis, Mo./Cardinal Ritter) hit a three-pointer at the 16:06 mark.

 

However, the Miners – who were already playing without forward Casey Noll (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville) – lost Taurance Townsel (Houston, Texas/) to fouls with 11:33 to go and holding a 51-47 lead. Mid-Continent was able to start a 15-2 run at that point, tying the game at 51 just 15 seconds after Townsel fouled out and taking the lead on two free throws by Donovan Willis with 10:53 to play.

 

The Cougars led by 12 at the 5:36 mark, but the Miners got seven straight points from Jones to get the margin down to five. His three-pointer with 4:16 left drew the Miners to within five, but Willis scored on a put-back on MCU's next trip down the floor and S&T never got closer than seven the rest of the way.

 

Jones and Curtis Mosley (Chicago, Ill./) led the Miners with 18 points apiece, while Owain Hall (Kingston, Jamica/) ended up with 14 and Aaron Redecker (Jackson, Mo./Jackson) with 12. The Miners shot 42.6 percent from the field and outrebounded the Cougars 41-31, but were done in by the 30 turnovers and losing two players to fouls along the way as Jones also fouled out with over three minutes to go.

 

Mid-Continent (8-12) had four players in double figures with Willis leading the way with 14 points.

 

Missouri S&T (8-14) returns to Great Lakes Valley Conference play Saturday when it faces Drury in a 3:30 p.m. contest in Springfield, Mo.