EVANSVILLE, Ind. – After getting off to a fast start Saturday afternoon, Missouri S&T's men's basketball team ran out of steam against the eighth-ranked team in NCAA Division II and ended up losing by a count of 76-56 to Southern Indiana in Great Lakes Valley Conference play at PAC Arena.

The Miners raced out of the gate by scoring the game's first nine points and 21 of the first 26 to take a 16-point lead in the opening half. Maurice Grinter (Louisville, Ky./Fairdale) hit a three-pointer at the 17:09 mark to finish the 9-0 opening run before Mohamed Ntumba got USI on the scoreboard at the 16:40 mark.

S&T continued its hot shooting to start the game – it made nine of its first 13 shots in the contest – and extended the lead to 15-2 on a jumper by Tommy Pelczynski (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) with 13:29 to go in the half and to 21-5 on a three-pointer by Pelczynski with 10:55 to go. However, the Eagles started their comeback by outscoring S&T 12-2 over the next six minutes and eventually tied the game on Eduardo Gallina's basket with 1:10 left in the half.

Beginning with Gallina's basket, the Eagles scored the final seven points of the half to take a 31-26 lead to the half as the Miners made only two of their final 12 shots from the floor in the opening half.

The Miners were still within five just over three minutes into the second half after a basket by Carlton Westbrook (Centralia, Ill./Centralia), but the Eagles pushed the margin into double figures by the 14:41 mark and the closest the Miners could get from that point was eight. USI used a 13-2 spurt midway through the second half to put the contest out of reach.

S&T had a trio of players in double figures, led by Grinter with 15 points and Pelczynski with 13; Grinter missed only once from the floor in seven attempts. Bryce Foster (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central) also finished in double figures with 11 for the Miners, who posted a 42 percent mark from the floor after the fast start and was five-of-12 from three-point range.

Ntumba led the Screaming Eagles (13-1, 5-1 GLVC) with 14 points, as USI shot 48.4 percent from the field and outrebounded the Miners by 11.

The Miners, 6-7 overall and 2-4 in the GLVC after losing for the fourth consecutive contest, wrap up their five-game road swing Thursday when they play at the University of Indianapolis in a 7:45 p.m. (Eastern time) contest.