Box Score ROLLA, Mo. – After being caught up in a tight battle over the first nine minutes of Friday's game with Westminster, Missouri S&T used its defense to propel a big run that built a 20-point halftime lead and led it to a season-opening 103-83 victory at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.

The Miners and Blue Jays swapped the lead during the first nine minutes of play, with Westminster taking an 18-17 lead on Brandon Moore's three-pointer at the 11:01 mark. S&T's Michael Nesbitt (Evansville, Ind./LaLumiere School) answered with a trey on the Miners' next trip down the floor, a basket that sent S&T on a 25-4 run over a span of six minutes – including 16 straight points in one stretch.
During the run, the Miners forced 10 of Westminster's 18 first half turnovers and Bryce Foster (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central) – playing in his first game since last December when he was sidelined due to an injury – scored nine of the 16 points during that particular part of the run that he began with a basket off a steal by Nusrath Khan (Morton Grove, Ill./Maine East).

Missouri S&T connected on eight-of-17 from three-point range in an opening half in which it shot 51.3 percent from the field.

Westminster cut down on its turnovers at the start of the second half and also began to shoot the ball well, which in turn allowed it began carving into what was a 22-point advantage. With 8:54 to play, Rolla native Jay Zalis hit a three-pointer out of the corner to make it a 10-point game, then the Blue Jays got the margin down to 10 again with 6:48 to go on a basket by Verdis Lee.

But on S&T's next possession, Zachary Ellis (St. Louis, Mo./Whitfield School) hit a driving layup , followed by a fast break layup by Khan to bring the lead back to 14. Moments later, a layup by Mudiaga Eruteya (Chicago, Ill./Notre Dame) started a 9-0 run that extended the S&T lead from 13 to 22 with just over four minutes to play.

Foster led four Miners in double figures with 28 points, while Eruteya had 19, Khan 18 and Ellis 15 off the bench. Eruteya and Nesbitt had eight rebounds apiece as the Miners were outrebounded by a 43-41 margin, while Khan finished one steal shy of the school record with eight of S&T's 18 on the night.

The Miners finished the night shooting 44.3 percent from the field and hit 11 three-pointers as they reached the 100-point mark for the first time since Dec. 3, 2009 in a double overtime loss at Illinois Springfield. It was the first time in 21 seasons in which S&T scored more than 100 points in a season opener, when the Miners scored 133 in a rout of Arkansas Baptist.

Moore scored 25 of the Blue Jays' 37 points in the first half and ended up with a game-high 35, hitting seven-of-13 from three-point land.

Missouri S&T returns to action Wednesday when its hosts Southeastern Oklahoma State of the Great American Conference in a 7 p.m. contest.