ROLLA, Mo. – A trip to Nashville, Tenn., is on tap for Missouri S&T's men's basketball team Tuesday as it concludes a busy early stretch of the schedule by facing Trevecca Nazarene in an 8 p.m. contest.
The Miners, who will be playing their fifth game in the last 11 days, got back on the winning track by knocking off Culver-Stockton 97-88 Saturday in Rolla to improve to 2-1 on the year (one of the previous four games was last Wednesday's exhibition contest at UMKC). Six Miners scored in double figures in the win, led by
Michael Nesbitt (Evansville, Ind./LaLumiere School) with 17 points and
Desmond Buerge (Carthage, Mo./Carthage) with 16.
Buerge leads S&T in scoring heading into Tuesday's game with an average of 15 points per game and is one of four Miners averaging in double figures through the first three games of the season.
Zach Ellis (St. Louis, Mo./Whitfield School), who like Buerge has scored at least 10 points in all three games, is scoring 14.7 points per game, while Nesbitt is averaging 12.7 points a game and
Marcus Walden (Augusta, Ga./Academy of Richmond Co.) checks in at an even ten per contest.
Walden recorded the Miners' first double-double of the year Saturday with ten points and ten rebounds in the win over the Wildcats and leads S&T with 6.7 rebounds per game for the season. S&T's assist leader is
Juwan Miller (Kitchener, Ont./Huron Heights) with 11.
Defensively, the Miners have forced their three opponents into 72 turnovers and have made 42 steals. Another key for S&T thus far on the year has been the production of the bench, which has averaged 39 points per game in the three contests.
Missouri S&T's opponent on Tuesday, Trevecca Nazarene, is 1-3 on the season and has played three of its first four games against teams from the Great Lakes Valley Conference. After losing the season opener to Maryville, the Trojans bumped off Truman State the next day, but lost its most recent outing Saturday at home to Illinois Springfield.
Matt Gamberoni and Jalem Palm had 14 points apiece to lead the Trojans in the 78-71 loss to UIS, a game that saw Trevecca shoot just 34.2 percent from the field. As a team, the Trojans have made only 38.6 percent of their shots from the floor, while opposing teams have connected on 51.2 percent overall and nearly 40 percent from three-point range.
Byron Sanford and Tyrell Corlew, the only two Trojans who have started in all four games, are the top two scorers for TNU. Sanford is averaging 13.8 points per game and also leads his team in assists with 14 and steals with 11. Corlew is scoring 12.8 points per contest and Palm is also in double figures at 12.3 a game.
Gamberoni, a 6-10 post player, is the top rebounder for the Trojans with 6.5 per game.
Tuesday's matchup is the first ever between the Miners and Trojans and first of two between the teams this season; they will meet Dec. 12 in Rolla.
Game Notes -- Miners vs. Trevecca NazareneLive VideoLive AudioLive Stats
