ROLLA, Mo. – The Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule gets started for Missouri S&T's men's basketball team Saturday night – and first up for the Miners will be two-time defending division champion and 14^th-ranked Drury, who will come to town for a 7:30 p.m. contest.

The Miners and Panthers both come into Saturday's matchup sporting 5-1 records and winning streaks that each have extended over the course of the current week.  Drury has won its last three games, while the Miners won their fourth straight Wednesday with an 80-68 victory at Southeastern Oklahoma State.

Trailing by four at halftime, Missouri S&T outscored the Savage Storm 48-32 in the second half to come away with the win.  S&T shot 51.4 percent from the field in the second half and forced Southeastern into 11 of its 19 turnovers after the break, while holding it to 33.3 percent shooting and without a three-point basket in the final 20 minutes.

Balanced scoring was also in place for the Miners on Wednesday – Clement Bonardo (LaFarlede, France/Costebelle) led five players in double figures with 15 points – and has been the case throughout the year for S&T as four players are averaging at least 10 points per contest.  Desmond Buerge (Carthage, Mo./Carthage), who has reached double figures in all six games thus far, leads the way with an average of 15.3 points per game, while Zach Ellis (St. Louis, Mo./Whitfield School) is averaging 14.8 a contest.

Marcus Walden (Augusta, Ga./Academy of Richmond Co.) is averaging 12.2 points a game and is coming off his second double-double of the season on Wednesday with 14 points and 10 rebounds; he is leading S&T on the boards with 6.3 per game.  Michael Nesbitt (Evansville, Ind./LaLumiere School) is the fourth double-figure scorer for the Miners at 10.2 points a game and is second in the GLVC in three-point shooting at 58.8 percent.

Drury bounced back from a loss at Northwest Missouri State last week to win twice in a home classic over Thanksgiving weekend and then took an 84-60 decision from Central Christian (Kan.) on Tuesday to get to 5-1 heading into Saturday's match in Rolla.  The Panthers enter their league opener having won 35 of their last 39 conference games and have won back-to-back GLVC West and NCAA Division II Midwest regional titles.

Two mainstays from those title teams lead the way for the current Panthers.  Cameron Adams, a senior forward, leads Drury in scoring with an average of 18.3 points per game and ranks seventh in the league in that department, while also ranking among the GLVC leaders in field goal percentage at 65.3 percent.  Meanwhile, Kameron Bundy is 11^th in the league in scoring at 17.8 points per game and is third in assists with a team-high 26.

Mike Nweule is also in double figures in the scoring column at 12.8 points a contest for a Panther squad that is shooting 49.2 percent from the field this season.

Drury has turned the ball over just 78 times in its first six games, while the Miners have forced their opponents into 154 turnovers and ranks among the national leaders in steals with 14.3 per game in the early stages of the 2014-15 season.

Game Notes – Miners vs. #14 Drury
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