OWENSBORO, Ky. – Missouri S&T's men's basketball team gave seventh-ranked Kentucky Wesleyan everything it wanted Thursday night, but the Panthers came away with an 87-78 win in a hard-fought Great Lakes Valley Conference contest at the Owensboro Sportscenter.

“I'm very proud of our kids,” said Miner head coach Jim Glash. “Our kids went toe-to-toe with them and just kept going, despite whatever adversity we faced in this game.” 

The Miners were able to stay within seven points of the Panthers throughout the first half, holding a lead six minutes into the game and hanging tough throughout the first 20 minutes. KWC led by one with 1:27 left in the first half after a lay-in by Eli Steinbeck (Hermann, Mo./Hermann), but the Panthers were able to leave the half with a four-point lead.

S&T drew to within one on three different occasions in the early stages of the second half, the last on Tommy Pelczynski (Nashville, Ill./Nashville)'s three-pointer with just over 14 minutes to play to make the score 49-48. However, the Panthers were able to extend the lead to 11 over the next three minutes on a three-pointer by Travis Owsley, a three-point play by Anthony Young and two free throws by Young after a technical foul was assessed to the S&T bench.

Mike Malat (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon) hit a shot in the lane with 10:27 left to stop the Panther spurt and the Miners were able to cut the margin down to seven a few moments later on a pair of free throws by Tommy Pelczynski (Nashville, Ill./Nashville). Kentucky Wesleyan answered the brief run by pushing the lead out to the largest margin of the night at 13 points with 7:32 to go.

Even though they were saddled with foul issues for much of the second half – including having two starters on the bench due to fouling out – the Miners were able to trim the lead to eight on a layup by Grinter with a little over four minutes remaining and again with 34 seconds left on a basket by Malat.

Pelczynski led a contingent of four Miners in double figures with 17 points, while Malat finished with 13. S&T, which shot 59.6 percent from the floor for the night, also got 11 points from Grinter and Bryce Foster (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central).

Young led all scorers in the game with 33 points, including a 15-of-16 showing from the free throw line where the Panthers outscored the Miners 37-16. Kwan Waller added 17 points and Cardell McFarland added 12. Kentucky Wesleyan (9-2, 2-2 GLVC) made 43.8 percent of its shots from the floor.

Missouri S&T (6-6, 2-3 GLVC) will return to action Saturday when it faces another nationally-ranked team -- No. 8 Southern Indiana in a 3:15 p.m. game in Evansville, Ind.