Box Score KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Missouri S&T's men's basketball team got some clutch baskets from Mudiaga Eruteya (Chicago, Ill./Notre Dame) in the second half and got 66 points from its top three scorers to inch closer to a berth in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament with a 95-88 win over Rockhurst.

Eruteya hit two three-pointers -- both of which gave the Miners the lead in the second half and the latter one the lead for good – as S&T won on the road for the first time in conference play to improve to 6-10 in GLVC play and 11-13 overall.

S&T got 30 points from Eruteya, 20 from Nusrath Khan (Morton Grove, Ill./Maine East) and 16 from Aaron Emmanuel (Brampton, Ont./LaLumiere School)  to win on a night when its leading scorer, Bryce Foster (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central), was held under double figures for just the second time this season.

The Miners held the lead at 43-42 at the end of a back-and-forth first half.  S&T trailed by as many as five in the early going, but took a five-point lead after Danylo Zuikov (Kiev, Ukraine/LaLumiere School) drained a three-pointer at the 11:27 mark.    Rockhurst would regain the advantage after Andrew Ellanger knocked down a trey with 6:56 to go in the half, but would grab its halftime lead with a 5-0 run to close the half.

Zach Ellis' three-point play with 12 seconds left before the intermission gave S&T its one-point lead that it would take to the locker room.

The contest remained tight during the early minutes of the second half.  Eruteya made a steal and scored on a dunk at the 16:10 mark to put the Miners up 53-51, but Brandon McCann hit a three for the Hawks on their next possession to give the lead back to Rockhurst.

Foster scored on a putback at the 13:37 mark to break a 57-all tie and sparked a 9-0 run to give S&T a 66-57 lead in a span of two minutes.    The Miners saw that nine-point advantage drop to three after a McCann lay-in at the 8:09 mark, then to two with 7:20 left on a three-pointer by Liam Duffy. 

Rockhurst then took the lead at the 5:36 mark after Foster had a shot blocked to spark a fast break, which ended with a McCann lay-up; the subsequent free throw gave the Hawks a 76-74 lead.

Eruteya drained a three-pointer to put S&T back in front on the Miners' next possession, then hit another trey after a basket by B.J. Dunbar to put the Miners up 80-78 at the 4:59 mark.  With 3:49 to go, Foster tipped in a missed three by Eruteya to extend the Miner lead to four.

Foster fouled out of the game with 1:39 to go and the Miners leading 86-80, but S&T got two from Zachary Ellis (St. Louis, Mo./Whitfield School) with 41 seconds left to keep the lead at six and two more from Eruteya at the 32-second mark to make it 92-86.

With 25.5 seconds to go and the Miners up 92-88, Khan hit the second of two free throws, then  Emmanuel made a steals from James Robinson, leading to a lay-in by Ellis to seal the contest.

The Miners shot 60 percent in the second half and finished the night at 54.7 percent as they knocked off the Hawks for the sixth consecutive time.

McCann led Rockhurst (6-17, 2-14 GLVC) with 28 points.  The Hawks came into the contest as the league's top free throw shooting team, but made only 17-of-29 at the line.

The Miners will play their final road game in GLVC play Saturday when they face William Jewell at 3 p.m. in Liberty, Mo.