Box Score ROLLA, Mo. – After going through a tough battle throughout the second half with Westminster, Mudi Eruteya once again pulled out the game for the Miners in the final seconds.

Eruteya, who hit a three-pointer with six seconds left earlier this month to give the Miners an exhibition victory over Western Illinois, drilled a 30-foot three-pointer as the buzzer sounded Thursday night to give Missouri S&T a 77-74 win over the Blue Jays at Billy Key Court.

The Blue Jays had tied the game on a lay-up by Skylar Tolson with four seconds remaining, but Eruteya took the inbounds pass, brought it up the floor and pulled up about five feet beyond the top of the key, hitting nothing but the bottom of the net to win the game and even the Miners' record at 2-2 heading into their Great Lakes Valley Conference opener next Thursday at Drury.

S&T controlled play for much of the first half, taking an early 10-point lead over the Blue Jays – who entered the game at 4-0 – on a steal and lay-up by Julian Johnson (St. Louis, Mo./Whitfield School) at the 13:28 mark.  The Miners never trailed in the first half and led by as many as 13 in the final minute after a basket by Nusrath Khan (Morton Grove, Ill./Maine East); S&T would carry a 42-31 lead into the intermission.

However, the Blue Jays came out in the second half and immediately cut into the margin, scoring the first eight points to make it a three-point game in the first 90 seconds of the period.  S&T would work the lead back to 10 on three occasions, the last on a pair of free throws by Eruteya at the 13:32 mark.

Westminster would hang around in the game – in part due to 31 S&T turnovers in the contest – and was able to get the lead cut to one at 62-61 on a three-pointer by Joe Prophet with 7:31 to play.  After the Blue Jays got the lead cut to one a second time at 64-63, the Miners rattled off six straight points, capped by two free throws by Brian Gifford (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway North) with 4:39 to play, to seemingly have control of matters.

But a 9-0 run by the Jays, completed on a three-pointer by Verdis Lee with 1:31 to go, gave Westminster its first lead of the contest at 72-70.  On S&T's next trip down the floor, Khan missed a three-pointer, but Michael Nesbitt (Evansville, Ind./LaLumiere School) got the rebound and fed Bryce Foster (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central) for lay-up that led to a three-point play, putting the Miners back in front by a point with 51 seconds remaining.

After a missed three at the other end by Tolson, Khan was fouled and made the first of two free throws with 18 seconds to go.  He got his own rebound of the second miss near the sideline, but was called for traveling with 14 ticks left.  Tolson would score on a lay-up to tie the game at 74, setting up Eruteya's heroics a few seconds later.

Eruteya and Jackson both finished with double-doubles for the Miners, as Eruteya had 15 points and 12 rebounds and Jackson closed the night with 11 points and 13 boards.  Foster led S&T in scoring with 16 points, as the Miners shot 48.1 percent from the field and held a massive rebounding edge over the smaller Blue Jays of 47-20.

Prophet led all scorers in the game with 19 points as Westminster – who shot 46.9 percent for the evening – had four players in double figures.

The Miners will play Drury at 7:45 p.m., next Thursday at the O'Reilly Family Events Center in Springfield, Mo.