By: John Kean, Sports Information Director
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky put Missouri S&T into a 12-point hole to start the game and the Miners could never overcome that deficit Saturday as they suffered a 72-54 setback to the Norse in Great Lakes Valley Conference action.
NKU scored the first 12 points of the game as it kept the Miners off the scoreboard until the 15:12 mark of the first half.
Byron Bundy (Columbia, Mo./Hickman)'s layup stopped the early run, but the Miners never cut the lead below seven points for the balance of the half.
S&T shot only 34.5 percent in the first 20 minutes of play and found themselves trailing by nine at 33-24 at the break.
The Miners scored five of the first seven points of the second half, getting the margin down to six on Bundy's three-pointer at the 18:41 mark. That, however, turned out to be as close at S&T would get after the intermission.
S&T was able to keep the margin between seven and 11 points for most of the next 10 minutes, but the Norse gradually pushed the lead out to as much as the final margin of 18 down the stretch.
Bundy led the Miners with 20 points, while
Bryce Foster (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central) finished with 13. No other Miner scored in double figures.
S&T shot 50 percent in the second half and ended the game at 41.5 percent from the floor. But despite committing only 12 turnovers in the game, the Miners were outrebounded 41-21 by the Norse,
Chris Knight led all scorers with 21 points for NKU (13-10, 6-8 GLVC), while David Palmer posted a double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds.
The Miners (7-15, 3-12 GLVC) will close out their road stretch Wednesday when they face Lincoln in Jefferson City. Game time will be at 7:30 p.m.
