Box Score

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – After letting a 10-point lead get away in the second half and then falling behind in overtime, Missouri S&T got a clutch shooting performance down the stretch from Tommy Pelczynski (Nashville, Ill./Nashville)  to upset Great Lakes Valley Conference West Division leader Missouri-St. Louis 83-79 Thursday night.

Pelczynski, who finished with 20 points on the night, scored seven in succession in the final 54 seconds of the extra period beginning with a three-pointer that put the Miners up for good.  Pelczynski would add a layup and two more free throws to help keep the Tritons at bay and help S&T pick up a key win in its quest to make the GLVC Tournament field.

The victory was the second of the season for the Miners over a team leading its division in the GLVC, as S&T beat Southern Indiana just over a month ago.  S&T improved to 4-18 overall and 3-11 in conference play while dropping the Tritons to 15-7 and 10-4 in the GLVC.

After the teams swapped baskets in the early stages of the game, the Miners – down 14-12 after a three-pointer by Troy Long at the 9:02 mark – outscored the Tritons 13-2 to take their largest lead of the first half of nine points at 25-16.  During that stretch, S&T held UMSL without a field goal for six minutes.

However, the Tritons scored the final 10 points of the half, the last ones on a three-point play by Justin Hightower with 35 seconds left in the half, to take a 26-25 lead to the half.

But S&T came out of the locker room on fire at the start of the second half, as Pelczynski hit two three-pointers in the first 37 seconds of the period to put the Miners up by five.  The Miners would make six of their first eight shots to open the second half, four of them from three-point range and would take an 11-point lead of 41-30 on a trey by Pelczynski at the 15:35 mark.

The Tritons started cutting into the lead, thanks in large part to the shooting of Troy Long, as he hit three long-range jumpers over the next three minutes to draw UMSL to within four with 11:56 to play.

 UMSL got the margin down to three, but went cold from the floor after Long left the game, allowing the Miners to rebuild its lead back to 10 on a dunk by Michael Jackson (Wichita, Kan./Wichita East) with 6:29 remaining.

The Miners held UMSL without a field goal for 7:35 before Aaeron Smith snapped the drought with a basket off an offensive rebound.  The Tritons would eventually draw even at 61 on a basket by Joshua McCoy with 1:55 to go.

On the Miners' next possession, the Miners took the ball into the lane and kicked it out to an open Bryce Foster (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central), who swished a 22-footer for his first basket of the night to put S&T back in front.  After a basket by Charlie Woods, Carlton Westbrook (Centralia, Ill./Centralia) made two free throws with 33 seconds to go to put the Miner lead back at three.

Long made a pair at the line to trim the lead back to one with 25 seconds remaining, then Foster made the second of two at the line with 16 seconds on the clock to put the lead back at two.  Long was fouled with nine seconds to play and he tied it with a pair of free throws before Westbrook was long on a three-pointer at the buzzer.

UMSL scored the first four points in overtime, but the Miners drew even at the midway point of the period after two free throws apiece by Foster and Julian Johnson (St. Louis, Mo./Whitfield School).   Jackson tied the game again at 73 on a putback of a missed three by Foster with 1:27, then following an UMSL turnover, Pelczynski drained the go-ahead basket from in front of the Miner bench with 54 ticks on the clock.

S&T continued to cling to that narrow margin until Long was called for a charging foul in the lane with seven seconds remaining.

Pelczynski was complimented offensively by Jackson, who recorded the Miners' first double-double of the season with 21 points and 10 rebounds.  Westbrook finished with 15 while Foster and Nusrath Khan (Morton Grove, Ill./Maine East) had eight points apiece.

S&T shot 65.2 percent in the second half and finished the night at the 50 percent mark, while holding the Tritons to just 36.6 percent from the field.

Long led all scorers in the game with 28 points and was one of four UMSL players in double figures.

The Miners will return to St. Louis Saturday to face Maryville University in a 3:15 p.m. contest.  Maryville beat Drury Thursday by a count of 73-55.