By: John Kean, Sports Information Director
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Missouri S&T was unable to overcome Rockhurst's 10-0 run and hot shooting in the second half Saturday as it dropped an 84-72 decision to the Hawks in Great Lakes Valley Conference men's basketball action.
The Miners were able to cut an 11-point Hawk lead down to three by halftime and were down by two at one point in the second half. S&T trailed by four at 52-48 before Aaron Hill's three-pointer sparked the decisive run that gave Rockhurst some breathing room for the balance of the afternoon.
S&T was able to get out of the gate in good shape Saturday, getting a pair of early three-pointers from Justin Taylor (Webster Groves, Mo./Webster Groves) to take an 8-3 lead. Rockhurst followed by running off nine straight points to take the lead for good, taking the lead at 10-8 on Jake Meyer's three-pointer at the 15:21 mark.
The Hawks would eventually extend their lead to 11 when Drew Martin hit a jumper with 9:15 to go in the half, but S&T began cutting away at the margin and got to within three when Taylor hit a jumper with 1:19 to play before halftime.
Rockhurst pushed its lead out to seven on its first two possessions of the second half before the Miners got a three-pointer from Owain Hall (Kingston, Jamica/) and a lay-in by Adam Knollmeyer (Linn, Mo./Linn) to get to within two at 39-37. The teams then traded baskets over the next five minutes before the Hawks made their decisive run.
Knollmeyer hit a jumper at the 11:26 mark to trim the Rockhurst lead to 52-48, but Hill – the top three-point shooter in the GLVC – hit a long three-pointer to start the Hawks' outburst. Moments later, Hill hit another open three to put Rockhurst up by 12; the lead would eventually reach 14 before S&T's Casey Noll (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville) stopped the run with a basket.
The Miners (8-13, 3-10 GLVC), who couldn't get the margin inside of double figures for the remainder of the contest, got 16 points from Knollmeyer, 14 from Taylor and 13 from Marquis Jones (St. Louis, Mo./Cardinal Ritter), who hit three of the Miners' eight three-pointers.
Hill, who came into the game averaging 20.5 points per game, led all scorers with 27 points while Martin finished with 14. The Hawks (14-8, 10-3 GLVC) shot 70.8 percent in the second half to finish the game at 56.4 percent from the floor.
Missouri S&T will host Mid-Continent in a non-conference game Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at Billy Key Court.
