Box Score

OWENSBORO, Ky. – Two days after knocking off the second-ranked team in NCAA Division II, the Miners ran into another highly rated squad and was unable to keep pace with it, as No. 4 Kentucky Wesleyan broke away from S&T late in the first half and went on to post a 91-58 win Saturday afternoon at the Owensboro Sportscenter

The Miners, who knocked off No. 2 Southern Indiana Thursday night, were able to hang in with the Panthers for a good portion of the first half.  Tommy Pelczynski (Nashville, Ill./Nashville)'s three-pointer at the 18:21 mark gave S&T an early 7-3 lead, then the Miners led 9-8 after Carlton Westbook scored with 16:56 to play.

Cornbread Walker, who had 13 of Kentucky Wesleyan's first 15 points, hit a three-pointer on the Panthers' next possession to put them up for good, but the Miners were able to stay close and drew to within five at 26-21 when Pelcyznski hit a pair of free throws at the 9:26 mark.

However, the Panthers pushed the lead into double figures just over two minutes later, then Brandon Johnson scored twice after making steals to give KWC a 14-point lead.  The Panthers would hold a 17-point lead of 48-31 at the half, then got the Miners into early foul difficulties in the second half to break the game open.

Kentucky Wesleyan, now 12-0 overall and 4-0 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, scored the first 12 points after the intermission to extend its lead to 29 points and held a lead of at least 25 points for the duration of the contest.

Pelczynski led four Miners in double figures with 12 points; Michael Jackson (Wichita, Kan./Wichita East), Nusrath Khan (Morton Grove, Ill./Maine East) and Curtis Okafor (Kansas City, Mo./Bishop Miege) all had 10 apiece for S&T (2-11, 1-4 GLVC).  The Miners shot 36.7 percent from the floor and made only three of their 14 attempts from three-point range.

Anthony Young led all scorers with 26 points for the Panthers, who connected on 59.1 percent of their shots in the game, while Walker finished with 16.

Missouri S&T returns to Billy Key Court for its first home game in over a month on Thursday, as it hosts No. 11-ranked Northern Kentucky in a 7:30 p.m. contest.