ROLLA, Mo. – Facing a team coming off a record-setting performance just two days earlier, Missouri S&T hunkered down on the defensive end to pick up its first Great Lakes Valley Conference victory by knocking off Missouri-St. Louis 64-59 at Billy Key Court Monday night.

The Miners and Tritons were locked up in a tight affair – neither team led by more than four points for much of a second half that included nine ties and eight lead changes – but S&T used a quick 6-0 spurt in the final two minutes to get the lead for good and held off the Tritons for the win.

The teams swapped the lead six times in the first half. UMSL led by as many as six early in the contest after a lay-in by Zach Redel at the 14:45 mark, but the Miners scored eight of the next 10 points to draw even with 8:57 to go after a layup by Marquis Jones (St. Louis, Mo./Cardinal Ritter). 

After the Tritons moved back in front, S&T battled back to reclaim the lead at 23-21 on a basket by Byron Bundy (Columbia, Mo./Hickman). UMSL's Beaumont Beasley drained a three to put the Tritons back in the lead, but Mike Malat (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon) hit a jumper with 1:28 remaining before halftime to give S&T a 25-24 lead it would take to the locker room.

UMSL scored the first five points of the second half to take what would be its largest lead of the second half at 29-25, but the Miners answered with six straight of their own and the game turned into a seesaw battle for the balance of the night.

With the game tied at 52, Malat nailed a three-pointer from the top of the key with 3:39 left to put the Miners up by three. Ryan Lawrence answered with a three for the Tritons just 20 seconds later to knot the score at 55, then the Miners got two defensive stops after missing shots to set up their winning run.

A.J. Mandani (Brampton, Ontario/) was fouled while going to the basket with 1:40 to play and knocked down both free throws to put S&T ahead by two. Lawrence then missed a three-pointer at the other end and Adam Knollmeyer (Linn, Mo./Linn) hauled in the rebound, which was then followed by Bundy scoring on an off-balance shot in the land with 49 seconds remaining to give the Miners a four-point lead.

Moments later, Mandani stole the ball from Beasley and hit a layup to extend the margin to six; the Tritons could get no closer than four after that.

The Miners finished the night by shooting 49 percent from the floor while holding the Tritons to 34 percent. S&T also forced 16 UMSL turnovers, including 10 in the second half.

Bundy scored a career-high 24 points for the Miners in the win, while Knollmeyer ended up with 11 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Lawrence and Jeremy Brown, who hit four of the Tritons' nine three-pointers, each had 15 to lead UMSL (8-5, 2-2 GLVC), which scored a GLVC record 152 points Saturday in its win at Maryville.

The Miners (5-7, 1-3 GLVC) will continue their four-game homestand Thursday with a visit from 10^th-ranked Southern Indiana. The Screaming Eagles improved to 13-0 Monday by routing Saint Joseph's 103-77 in Evansville, the sixth straight game in which USI has cleared the 100-point mark.