JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A cold shooting night doomed Missouri S&T Wednesday night, as it dropped a 73-61 decision at Lincoln University in a one-night venture outside the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

 

S&T made only 39.4 percent of its shots on the night – hitting only 26 of its 66 attempts – and never held a lead in the contest for the second game in a row.

 

The Blue Tigers held the lead throughout the first half, taking their largest lead of 10 on three different occasions. Lincoln held the Miners to 34.5 percent shooting in the opening half in taking what would turn out to be a 33-23 advantage by the intermission.

 

LU extended its lead to 14 in the early moments of the second half, but the Miners used a run of seven straight points to cut the lead in half. After the Blue Tigers stemmed the run momentarily and got their advantage back into double figures, Jones got hot from long range to get the Miners onto Lincoln's heels.

 

Jones hit three-pointers on three straight trips down the floor to get the Miners to within two at 47-45 at the 9:40 mark. However, Lionel Booker drained a three on the Blue Tigers' next possession to extend the lead back to five.

 

From there, Lincoln got its lead back to double figures again and proceeded to hold off the Miners at the free throw line, hitting 12 of their 15 foul shots in the second half.

 

A.J. Mandani (Brampton, Ontario/) was one of three Miners in double figures as he led S&T with 15 points. Bryce Foster (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central) finished with 13 points and Byron Bundy (Columbia, Mo./Hickman) ended up with 10.

 

Booker led all scorers with 25 points, scoring 13 in the opening half to help Lincoln build its lead. Anthony Welch added 17 for the Blue Tigers (4-18).

 

The Miners (7-16) return to Great Lakes Valley Conference play Saturday when they host Maryville University in a 3 p.m. contest at Billy Key Court.