ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T overwhelmed Ozark Christian during the first half Monday, running out to a 30-point lead by halftime and cruised to a 106-46 victory at Billy Key Court.

The Miners – who never trailed in the contest – got off to a bit of a slow start and led by just five a little over five minutes into the contest.  But sparked by the scoring of Zach Ellis (St. Louis, Mo./Whitfield School) and Desmond Buerge (Carthage, Mo./Carthage), the Miners went on a 19-5 run over the next seven minutes to go up by 19 and never looked back as they improved to 4-1 with their third straight win.

Ellis scored at the 14:16 mark to start the run, then following a lay-in and free throw from Buerge, Ellis hit three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to give S&T 11 straight points and a 16-point lead.  Ellis hit another trey during the course of the run, as he hit four on night as part of a career-high 29-point performance.

The Miner lead grew to as much as 31 in the first half as they went eight-of-19 from three-point range in the opening half.

S&T continued to push the lead out in the second half as it subbed liberally, shooting 51.4 percent after the intermission and forcing 18 of the 33 turnovers committed by Ozark Christian.  The Miners turned the 33 Ambassador miscues into 38 points and also scored 23 second chance points in the contest.

Besides the career-high 29 by Ellis, S&T also got 19 points from Desmond Buerge (Carthage, Mo./Carthage) as well as 13 from Marcus Walden (Augusta, Ga./Academy of Richmond Co.) and 11 from Juwan Miller (Kitchener, Ont./Huron Heights).  The Miners also outrebounded the Ambassadors 46-36, with Curtis Okafor (Kansas City, Mo./Bishop Miege) leading the way with 10.

Missouri S&T will hit the road for a Wednesday night contest at Southeastern Oklahoma State (3-5), which will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Durant, Okla.