ROLLA, Mo. – Halfway through their longest road stretch of the season, Missouri S&T's men's basketball team will head east to St. Louis to play the final two games of the four-game Great Lakes Valley Conference road trip this weekend.
The Miners will look to snap a five-game losing streak Thursday when they face GLVC West Division co-leader Missouri-St. Louis in a 7:30 p.m. contest, then travels to west St. Louis County Saturday for a 3 p.m. matchup at Maryville University.
S&T's skid reached five on Saturday when it was unable to hold onto an eight-point second half lead in a 94-89 loss at Rockhurst. The Hawks used a 13-2 run in the second half to take the lead for good, then held off the Miners in the final minute by going seven-of-10 at the free throw line.
Desmond Buerge (Carthage, Mo./Carthage), who leads the Miners in scoring for the season with an average of 13.9 points per game, scored a career-high 23 points to pace S&T Saturday. The Miners also got 14 points and six assists from
Danylo Zuikov (Kiev, Ukraine/LaLumiere School) and 10 from
Marcus Walden (Augusta, Ga./Academy of Richmond Co.), but shot just over 40 percent from the floor and allowed the Hawks to connect on 53.3 percent of their shots.
The Miners enter Thursday's game ranked second in the GLVC in scoring with an average of 85.1 points per game, with
Zach Ellis (St. Louis, Mo./Whitfield School) also averaging 13.6 points a contest and
Clement Bonardo (LaFarlede, France/Costebelle) and
Michael Nesbitt (Evansville, Ind./LaLumiere School) just below double figures at 9.1 and nine per game, respectively. Nesbitt ranks among the league leaders in both free throw and three-point percentage, while Walden is among the GLVC leaders in field goal percentage at 56.3 percent.
UMSL improved to 13-4 overall and 5-2 in the GLVC as it rebounded from a Saturday loss at Quincy with an 86-79 win Monday at Maryville. Aareon Smith recorded a double-double in the win with 19 points and 12 rebounds; he leads the Tritons in scoring with an average of 15.5 points a contest and is third in the conference in rebounding with 9.5 a game.
Tylor Wimbish is also scoring in double figures with an average of 13.1 points per game, while as a team, the Tritons are one of the most dangerous teams from long range as they are connecting on 41.6 percent of their shots from three-point range.
Brandon Marquardt is shooting 49.2 percent from outside the arc and leads UMSL with 30 three-point baskets, while Derek Shouse has made 27 at a rate of 49.1 percent.
Maryville dropped to 9-7 overall and 4-3 in GLVC play with Monday's loss, despite having four players in double figures. Forrester Sims led the Saints with 23 points, while their leading scorer for the season, Trae Pemberton, finished with 20. Pemberton, averaging 16.1 points per outing, is among the league leaders in three-point shooting at 52.1 percent, while Armon Provo has 38 three-point baskets to lead the GLVC in treys per game.
Provo, who is averaging 15.9 points a game, has missed the last two-plus games with an injury suffered in the Saints' last-second win over Quincy last Thursday. As a team, Maryville is shooting 49.1 percent from the field and is just below the 40 percent mark from three-point land.
Thursday's links
Game Notes – Miners vs. Missouri-St. LouisLive VideoLive AudioLive StatsSaturday's linksGame Notes – Miners vs. MaryvilleLive VideoLive AudioLive Stats
