Box Score ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's men's basketball team got back on the court and back into the win column Monday afternoon, closing the 2012 calendar year by leading from start to finish in an 89-61 romp over Benedictine-Springfield at Billy Key Court.

The Miners scored 11 of the first 13 points of the contest, getting eight of the points from Michael Jackson (Wichita, Kan./Wichita East) and Michael Nesbitt (Evansville, Ind./LaLumiere School) to set the tone.  S&T was able to control matters in the paint Monday, outscoring the Bulldogs 48-34 and scoring 22 second chance points to just seven for the visitors.   In addition, the Miners held a 15-rebound advantage of 40-25 in the game.

A tip-in by Julian Johnson (St. Louis, Mo./Whitfield School) of his own missed shot at the 8:50 mark of the first half gave the Miners a 10-point lead of 24-14 and the margin never fell into single digits for the balance of the day.  Benedictine-Springfield was able to cut larger S&T leads to 10 on three occasions after that, but the Miners used a 10-2 spurt in the latter moments of the first half to build their largest lead of the half of 18; S&T would lead 41-28 at the half.

After the Bulldogs cut the lead to 12 in the first minute of the second half, the Miners got a basket from Jackson to start another 10-2 burst that extended the lead to 18 by the 16:34 mark.  The Miners would shoot 51.7 percent in the second half and finished the afternoon at an even 50 percent.

S&T broke the game wide open in the final 10 minutes, outscoring the Bulldogs 21-12 over the final nine minutes.

Jackson led a contingent of five Miners in double figures with a season-high 17 points, while Mudi Eruteya posted his second double-double of the year with 16 points and 10 rebounds and added four steals to boot.

The Miners also got 12 points from Nusrath Khan (Morton Grove, Ill./Maine East), 11 from Johnson and 10 from Nesbitt as they evened their record at 4-4 on the season prior to the resumption of Great Lakes Valley Conference play Thursday night.

Benedictine-Springfield, who is 3-9 in its first season of competition but was playing Monday's game as an exhibition contest, was led by Justin Smith with 14 points.  The Bulldogs had four players in double figures in the scoring column.

Missouri S&T will host Wisconsin-Parkside (5-3) in a 7:30 p.m. game Thursday at Billy Key Court.