RENSSELAER, Ind. – Missouri S&T's men's basketball team saw its season come to an end Saturday afternoon, as a tough second half offensively led to their demise in a 62-53 loss to Northern Kentucky in the opening round of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament.

 

The Miners trailed by only three at the half after scoring four points in the final seven seconds to take some momentum into the locker room. However, it took S&T over five minutes to score at the start of the second half after NKU had built its lead back into double figures.

 

The Norse built as much as a 14-point lead in the first half, but S&T clawed back into the game and cut the lead down to seven with 1:16 to go in the half on a three-pointer by Byron Bundy (Columbia, Mo./Hickman). 

 

After getting two stops on the defensive end, Hank Harris (Topeka, Kan./Highland Park) scored on a layup with seven seconds to go, then Mike Malat (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon) stole the inbounds pass and tossed in a shot as the buzzer sounded to cut the lead down to three at 37-34.

 

However, the Miners came out slow after the break and saw Northern extend its lead to 10 on Corey Sorrell's three-pointer at the 15:05 mark. S&T was able to trim that lead down to four with 11:06 to go after a basket by Bundy, but the Norse – who shot only 26 percent in the second half themselves – scored six straight go back up by 10 with 7:23 remaining.

 

The closest the Miners would get from that point was six.

 

Malat led the Miners with 12 points while A.J. Mandani (Brampton, Ontario/), one of six Miners playing in what turned out to be their final game at S&T, finished with 10.  The Miners ended the afternoon shooting 44.4 percent from the floor, but made only 7-of-21 in the second half and missed all eight three-point attempts after hitting four prior to halftime.

 

David Palmer, a first-team All-GLVC selection this season, led all scorers with 18 points. The Norse also held a 29-26 advantage on the boards and forced S&T into 22 turnovers as it advanced to a quarterfinal matchup Sunday against Saint Joseph's.

 

Missouri S&T ended the season with a record of 7-21.