Box Score ST. CHARLES, Mo. – If anything can be made of the first nine games of Missouri S&T's men's basketball season, it is that the Miners will take matters to the final buzzer – and beyond if necessary.

Monday's game at Lindenwood was one of those "beyond" games and the Miners were able to outlast the Lions to capture a 114-112 double overtime decision, giving them a 5-4 record heading into their holiday break. 

It marks the first time since 2010 that S&T has ended a calendar year above the .500 mark – and they needed to win an old-fashioned shootout to get there.  It came all the way down to the final shot of the game, where S&T forced a miss at the basket by Michael Boos and then forced a turnover after Rayko Dundalov got the offensive rebound to come away with the victory.

After falling behind by as many as 10 points in the first minutes of the contest, the Miners fought their way back into the game and took a 31-30 lead on Mudiaga Eruteya (Chicago, Ill./Notre Dame)'s three-pointer at the 7:18 mark.   The Lions regained the lead and pushed the margin back to six over the next two minutes, but S&T closed the half by outscoring Lindenwood 14-5 to take a 48-45 lead to the locker room.

The second half began with the Miners taking control of matters early on, using a 9-1 spurt to take their largest lead of the game.  Bryce Foster (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central)'s lay-in with 13:18 to play in regulation put S&T up 68-57, but after Danylo Zuikov (Kiev, Ukraine/LaLumiere School)'s three-pointer at the 11:32 mark made it 71-61, Lindenwood went on a 12-2 run of its own over the next two minutes and tied it when Tyler Ressel sunk a pair of free throws.

Lindenwood would hold the lead for the better part of the next seven minutes, but the Miners regained the advantage at 90-89 with 2:14 to play when Eruteya made a pair of free throws.   After Ressel gave the Lions the lead back at the free throw line, Eruteya scored with 52 seconds to play to put the Miners up by a point.

S&T had an opportunity to salt the game away at the free throw line, but the Miners missed a late free throw and Ressel scored with two seconds to go and had a chance to win it himself for the Lions at the line.  However, he missed the free throw and the Miners missed a last-gasp effort to send it into overtime.

The Miners had two four-point leads in the first overtime period, first on a three-pointer by Nusrath Khan (Morton Grove, Ill./Maine East) with 2:03 to play and again at 102-98 after Curtis Okafor (Kansas City, Mo./Bishop Miege) scored after making a steal.  Lindenwood came right back and tied the score on Marcus Hinton's dunk with 21 seconds to play, then Eruteya was denied at the basket just before time expired to extend the contest to a second extra period.

S&T never trailed in the second overtime, taking the initial lead when Foster hit two free throws 1:16 into the period and going up for good following the 15^th tie of the contest when Eruteya scored with under a minute to go.  Boos had a chance to tie it, but made just one-of-two at the line with 37 seconds to go, then Eruteya knocked down a pair at the line with 33 seconds to go.

Darris Smith cut the lead to one with 20 seconds remaining, then Eruteya made the second of two free throws with 16 ticks on the clock to give the Miners the two-point lead they were able to preserve with the final defensive stand.

Eruteya scored a career-high 39 points for the Miners in the victory – the highest scoring output by an S&T player since Scott Holly's 40-point showing in a 2002 win over Pittsburg State – and was among five in double figures for the Miners.  Foster added 24 points, while Khan finished with 16, Zuikov with 12 and Okafor with 10.

The Miners shot 50 percent from the field in the second half and ended the night at 43.2 percent, while knocking down 14 three-pointers and going 30-of-46 at the free throw line.

Ressel had a game-high 41 points for the Lions (6-6), who were 37-of-45 at the foul line.  Lindenwood shot 44.4 percent for the game, marking the first time since the season opener that the Miners held an opponent under 50 percent from the field.

Missouri S&T will return to action Jan. 3, when it hosts nationally-ranked Indianapolis in its first home game in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.  Game time will be at 7:30 p.m. for the contest with the team currently ranked 23^rd in NCAA Division II.