ROLLA, Mo. – After overcoming a 10-point deficit at halftime to take the lead in the second half, Missouri S&T's basketball team was unable to hold onto the advantage as Pittsburg State came away with a 64-61 win over the Miners Sunday at Billy Key Court.

The Gorillas led 29-19 at the intermission, but S&T opened the second half with 12 straight points, taking the lead at the 14:50 mark on a lay-in by Bryce Foster (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central). Pitt State scored the next four to regain the lead momentarily before Mike Malat (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon) drained a three-pointer from the top of the key to put the Miners back in front.

From there, the teams swapped the lead four more times in the second half, with the Miners taking as much as a four-point lead with nine minutes remaining at 43-39 after a three-pointer by Foster. S&T still led by three at the 6:44 mark after Tommy Pelczynski (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) hit a foul line jumper, but the Gorillas answered with a 7-0 run to take the lead for good; Andra Bailey's layup with 5:30 left moved PSU in front.

Pitt State extended its lead to as much as seven in the final minute, but the Miners were able to draw to within two after Carlton Westbrook (Centralia, Ill./Centralia) hit a driving layup with six seconds to go after a missed PSU free throw. Logan Jones hit one of two at the line with five seconds remaining to make it a three-point game, but Westbrook missed a long three as time expired.

The opening half saw the Miners lead throughout most of the first 12 minutes of play, but Pitt State used an 11-0 run to take a 10-point lead at 22-12. Aaron Hays (Kirksville, Mo./Kirksville) stopped that run with a three-pointer at the 4:15 mark, but S&T was unable to get any closer than five over the balance of the half and the Gorillas were able to extend the margin back to 10 in the final seconds.

Westbrook led a contingent of three Miners in double figures with 14 points, while Pelczynski finished with 12 and Bryce Foster (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central) with 11. S&T held the Gorillas to 38.2 percent shooting for the game, but made only 36.8 percent on their own part and only three-of-16 from behind the three-point line.

Bailey led the Gorillas (4-0) with 14 points and 11 rebounds; Pitt State held a 14-rebound advantage over the Miners (47-33) to offset the 22 turnovers the Miners forced.

Missouri S&T, who fell to 3-2 with the setback, will open Great Lakes Valley Conference play Thursday when it hosts Quincy in a 7:30 p.m. game at Billy Key Court.