ST. LOUIS, Mo. – A stellar defensive effort in the first half set the tempo for Missouri S&T's men's basketball team Thursday night as it ended a 12-game losing streak by blasting Maryville 63-36 at Moloney Arena.

The Miners led from start to finish, scoring on their first possession on a three-pointer by Tommy Pelczynski (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) and then letting their defense dictate the tone of the contest as they picked up their first victory since beating Culver-Stockton on Dec. 29. The win also gave the Miners their third victory in Great Lakes Valley Conference play, the same total that third place Rockhurst – who was idle Thursday – has for the final automatic playoff berth in the league's West Division.

The Miners held the Saints scoreless for the first 8:21 of the game and allowed just four points over the first 15-plus minutes. S&T was able to build a nine-point lead before Maryville got its first points in the slow-paced game, then expanded the lead to 21 points on an alley-oop dunk by Bryce Foster (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central) off a pass from Carlton Westbrook (Centralia, Ill./Centralia) with 4:53 left in the first half.

Missouri S&T would lead by 23 at the intermission after Carlton Westbrook (Centralia, Ill./Centralia) hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to end the first half.

After Maryville cut the lead down to 17 in the early stages of the second half, the Miners essentially put the game away by outscoring the Saints 14-3 over the next six minutes to hold a 55-27 lead with 7:38 remaining in the contest.

Pelczynski led a balanced scoring effort at the top for the Miners with 18 points, while Westbrook finished with 15 and Foster with 14. The Miners shot 46.7 percent on the night and held the Saints (6-16, 3-12 GLVC) to just 36 percent shooting on the evening and to only 3-of-16 from three-point range. S&T was 11-of-22 from long range Thursday.

Mike Ford was the only Saint in double figures with 14 points. The Miners also outrebounded the hosts by a 30-20 margin.

The 36 points allowed by the Miners Thursday was the fewest allowed by an S&T team since Dec. 18, 2006 when they held Central Christian to 30 points and fewest given up in a conference game since Feb. 13, 2003 in a 54-32 win at Central Missouri. It was also the largest margin of victory for the Miners in a GLVC game since they joined the conference in the 2005-06 season.

The Miners (7-15, 3-12 GLVC) will be idle until Monday when they face Drury in an 8 p.m. contest in Springfield, Mo.