ROLLA, Mo. – Maryville got hot from the floor in the second half, which turned out to be the difference as it sent Missouri S&T's men's basketball team to a 66-51 loss Saturday afternoon in a Great Lakes Valley Conference game at Billy Key Court.

The Saints connected on 13 of their 19 shots from the floor in the second half – shooting at a 68.4 percent clip – and hit eight three-pointers after the intermission as they outscored the Miners 40-23 after S&T held a two-point lead when the half began.

Both teams got off to a slow start, but the Miners took a five-point lead at the 13:52 mark of the first half on a three-pointer by Bryce Foster (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central), one of six made by S&T in the opening half. The Miners would take their biggest lead of the first half with 7:02 to play on a jumper by Tommy Pelczynski (Nashville, Ill./Nashville), but Maryville chipped away at that lead and would take a two-point lead on Gerald Shaw's basket with 1:18 left in the half.

Foster hit another three-pointer 16 seconds later to put S&T back in front and they would remain in front as the half ended.

The Saints, however, opened the second half by scoring eight of the first 10 points to take a four-point lead; the run concluded with a three-pointer from Zach Perkins. S&T would reclaim the lead on a trey by Foster and a lay-in by Filmore Bouldes (Romulus, Mich./Romulus) at the 13:50 mark, but Shaw drained a three-pointer moments later to put the Saints back in the lead for good at 37-35.

S&T closed the gap to one on a three-point play by Foster with 11:31 to go and were down by three at 45-42 after a steal and basket by Carlton Westbrook (Centralia, Ill./Centralia) with 8:23 remaining. Foster made another steal for S&T after the Westbrook basket, but Nusrath Khan (Morton Grove, Ill./Maine East) had his layup attempt on the break blocked by Perkins. 

Nearly 90 seconds later Ryan Shotkoski started a decisive 8-1 spurt with a three-pointer that would end with the Saints holding a double-digit lead. The Miners only got as close as six after that run.

Foster led the Miners with 22 points while Westbrook finished with 14, but S&T shot only 37.8 percent for the contest and just 33.3 percent in the second half. Meanwhile, the Saints (5-14, 2-10 GLVC) got 21 points from Asa Toney as they finished the afternoon at 56.4 percent from the floor in winning for the second time in their last three outings.

Missouri S&T dropped to 6-13 overall and 2-10 in conference play with Saturday's setback. The Miners will step outside the GLVC for a non-league tilt Tuesday against Webster University at 7 p.m. at Billy Key Court, then resume league play Thursday when they host Northern Kentucky.