ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T will seek to complete a season sweep of an opponent outside the Great Lakes Valley Conference for the first time since the 2007-08 season Friday when it hosts Trevecca Nazarene in a 7 p.m. contest at Billy Key Court.
The Miners, 5-2 on the season, downed the Trojans 88-78 in Nashville, Tenn., on Nov. 25, rallying from a 12-point first half deficit to record the victory. S&T forced TNU into 30 turnovers in the contest, 19 of them coming in the second half when it outscored the Trojans 57-40.
However, Trevecca Nazarene comes into Friday's game sporting a three-game winning streak, which includes a 13-point win early last week over nationally-ranked Alabama-Huntsville. The Trojans followed up that win with two victories at the start of their Great Midwest Athletic Conference slate away from home to improve their record to 4-5.
Byron Sanford had 23 points in the win over UAH and followed that up with a 28-point effort at Salem International three nights later; he leads the Trojans in scoring with an average of 16.3 points per game and also tops the team charts in rebounding (7.1), assists (42) and steals (26).
The Trojans have three others averaging in double figures in Tyrell Corlew and Jalen Palm at 12.1 points a game each and Christopher Elliott at 10.4 per game. Elliott, who led all scorers with 17 points in the first meeting between the teams, is also shooting 48 percent from three-point range.
Desmond Buerge (Carthage, Mo./Carthage) has scored in double figures in all seven Miner contests this season and continues to lead the team in scoring with an average of 15.1 points per game. Buerge and
Marcus Walden (Augusta, Ga./Academy of Richmond Co.) had 16 points apiece in the November matchup.
Walden is also averaging in double figures at 11.3 points a game while leading S&T on the boards with 5.7 a contest; he is also sixth in the GLVC in field goal percentage at 66.7 percent.
Zach Ellis (St. Louis, Mo./Whitfield School) is the Miners' third double figure scorer with an average of 14.4 points per contest.
Freshman point guard
Juwan Miller (Kitchener, Ont./Huron Heights) leads the Miners with 30 assists and ranks third in the GLVC in steals with 17, a category in which the Miners rank fifth in NCAA Division II as a team with 13.1 per game.
The Miners' last sweep over a non-conference opponent – covering at least two games – came seven seasons ago when S&T recorded two victories over Robert Morris-Springfield. The last time S&T swept a home-and-home series outside of conference play (one of the RMU-Springfield contests was played at a neutral site) came in the 2003-04 season when the Miners won twice over Missouri-St. Louis, when S&T was still a member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.
Friday's game will be the Miners' last prior to the upcoming holiday break, as their next game will not take place until Dec. 31 when they host William Woods.
Game Notes – Miners vs. Trevecca NazareneLive VideoLive AudioLive Stats
