Box Score

ROLLA, Mo. – After being slowed down by the Missouri S&T defense in the latter stages of the first half, Maryville warmed up from the field after the intermission and came away with a 66-62 win over the Miners in the Great Lakes Valley Conference opener for both teams at Billy Key Court.

S&T held the Saints – who entered the game shooting 54.7 percent from the floor as a team – to just eight-of-22 shooting in the opening half.  The Miners also allowed just one field goal to Maryville in the final 10:24 of the first half, erasing a nine-point deficit to take a five-point halftime lead of 24-19.

The Miners took their first lead of the game at 20-19 after Eli Steinbeck (Hermann, Mo./Hermann) made a steal in the backcourt, allowing Carlton Westbrook (Centralia, Ill./Centralia) to get the loose ball and take it to the basket to put S&T on top with 5:07 left in the first half.

Steinbeck would score himself just over a minute later and the Miners would later get a basket from Tommy Pelczynski (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) to build their five-point advantage, as the Saints made only one of their last 11 shots in the opening half.

But when the second half opened, the Saints got three-pointers from Gerald Shaw and Mike Ford on their first two possessions, then grabbed the lead with an 11-0 run capped by a lay-in by Tyler Waite to put them up 39-33 with 12:43 remaining.

S&T would draw to within two after a pair of baskets by Pelczynski, but Maryville pushed its lead back out to six moments later.  A dunk by Steinbeck at the 7:04 mark brought the Miners back to within two again, but the Saints rattled off six straight points to extend their lead back to eight again.

The Miners would close the margin to three on two different occasions in the final two minutes, but the Saints finished the game by going nine-of-10 at the foul line, part of a 16-of-18 performance in the second half, to hold off S&T.

Maryville, who is 4-0 to start a season for the first time in school history, shot 59.1 percent in the second half and finished with four players in double figures, led by Shaw with 13 points.

Pelczynski led S&T (1-6) with 14 points and Westbrook finished with 11.

The Miners will continue their homestand with a visit Saturday from Missouri-St. Louis at 3 p.m.