NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A huge second half performance allowed Missouri S&T's men's basketball team to come from behind to claim its first road victory of the season Tuesday night, as the Miners outscored Trevecca Nazarene 57-40 after the intermission in an 88-78 win.

The Miners trailed by as many as 12 in the first half and was down by seven at the break, but came alive after the intermission as they forced 19 turnovers in the second half to wipe out the deficit and take control of matters.

Facing the seven-point deficit when the second half began, the Miners came out of the gate and knotted the score on two different occasions before finally taking the lead for good on Zach Ellis (St. Louis, Mo./Whitfield School)' three-pointer at the 14:39 mark.  After drawing an offensive foul on TNU's next possession, Clement Bonardo (LaFarlede, France/Costebelle) knocked down a trey to extend the lead to five.

The Miners led 52-51 after a basket by Jalen Palm at the 10:35 mark, but the Miner defense clamped down to begin pushing the advantage out.  Palm missed a chance to give the Trojans the lead before Walden took a pass from Desmond Buerge (Carthage, Mo./Carthage) to finish a break to extend the lead to three. 

Buerge followed by making a steal and converted two free throws to make it a five-point game, then Ellis made a steal and scored and then Juwan Miller (Kitchener, Ont./Huron Heights) made a steal that led to a Danylo Zuikov (Kiev, Ukraine/LaLumiere School) basket and a nine-point S&T lead.

The lead would grow to as much as 15 by the 5:38 mark before the Miners started dealing with foul issues that led to the disqualification of four players.   Trevecca got as close as six in the final minute, but the Miners – who hit 26-of-32 at the free throw line in the second half – missed just one of their 10 free throws in the last 60 seconds to close out the victory.

Trevecca Nazarene took advantage of some cold shooting by the Miners at the outset of the contest to take an early 19-7 lead, but S&T came back to tie the score and then took a brief lead on Juwan Miller (Kitchener, Ont./Huron Heights)'s free throw at the 3:45 mark.  However, the Trojans outscored the Miners 11-3 to finish the half and took a 38-31 lead to the locker room.

The Miners started cutting into the Trojan lead at the start of the second half and drew even twice before finally taking the lead on the Ellis three-pointer.

Buerge and Walden finished with 16 points apiece to lead the Miners, while Ellis added 14 and Miller finished with 10.  Miller also had four assists in the game, while Buerge had three of the Miners' 10 steals to go along with eight rebounds.

Trevecca Nazarene (1-4) had six players score in double figures, led by Christopher Elliott with 17 points.  The Trojans shot 43 percent in the game, but the Miners forced them into 30 turnovers that they turned into 32 points.

Missouri S&T will return to action Monday when it hosts Ozark Christian in a 7 p.m. contest at Billy Key Court.