Box Score ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's men's basketball team entered its contest with Maryville as the fourth-highest scoring team in NCAA Division II, but showed Thursday night that it could grind out a victory as well as it came away with a 78-66 victory over the Saints at Billy Key Court.

The win, the third in succession for the Miners, came as it shot 63.6 percent in the second half and turned the ball over a season-low eight times in the contest. S&T returned to the .500 mark at 8-8 with the victory and moved to 3-5 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

After the Saints used a quick 6-0 burst – all on points by Trae Pemberton – to take their only lead of the game at 13-10 midway through the opening half, the Miners regained the lead on Mudiaga Eruteya (Chicago, Ill./Notre Dame)'s three-pointer at the 7:14 mark. Maryville would tie the game twice after S&T took that lead, but the Miners went up for good on another trey by Eruteya that gave them a 27-24 advantage with 2:31 to play in the half.

That three-pointer sparked an 8-0 run that gave S&T its largest lead of the half, with the Miners getting their last points in the run off of Saint turnovers.

S&T led 32-27 at the half, but would build an eight-point lead again in the early minutes before the Saints closed to within two on a lay-in by Asa Toney at the 12:55 mark. On Maryville's next trip down the floor, Melvin Turner missed a three-pointer that could have given it the lead, after which Aaron Emmanuel (Brampton, Ont./LaLumiere School) hit a driving lay-up and converted the ensuing free throw for a three-point play to get the Miner lead back to five.

Armon Provo's three-pointer with 9:31 to go pulled the Saints back to within four at 52-48, but the Miners responded by scoring nine of the next 11 points to push their advantage into double figures for the first time in the contest, capped when Eruteya went coast-to-coast for a lay-up that gave the Miners a 61-50 lead with just under six minutes to go.

Maryville quickly cut that lead down to six on two free throws by Toney and a three-pointer by Provo, but Bryce Foster (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central) answered that with a long three-pointer was close to expiring to get the margin back to nine and the Miners would hold at least a three-possession lead for the remainder of the evening.

Eruteya, the Miners' second-leading scorer on the season who had been to a total of 14 points in the Miners' last two victories, led three Miners in double figures with 21 points. Foster added 13 and Emmanuel finished with 12. S&T shot 48 percent on the night and made 23-of-29 at the free throw line while forcing 20 Maryville turnovers.

Toney led all scorers with 22 points after being held scoreless in the first half, while Pemberton added 18 and Provo, who also went without a point in the first 20 minutes, finished with 11. The Saints (9-6, 3-4 GLVC) shot 56.1 percent in the game and hit 60.9 percent in the second half, but made just 13-of-21 at the line and were hurt by the 20 turnovers that the Miners turned into 21 points.

Missouri S&T will close out its four-game homestand Saturday when it entertains Missouri-St. Louis at 3 p.m. The Tritons (10-6, 4-4 GLVC) fell 76-73 Thursday on the road to fifth-ranked Drury.