ROLLA, Mo. – Bellarmine's hot shooting in the first half, coupled with a cold first 20 minutes by Missouri S&T, put the Miners into a hole they couldn't dig out of Thursday night as the sixth-ranked Knights downed S&T 81-62 in a Great Lakes Valley Conference contest at Billy Key Court.

The Knights shot 63.3 percent in the first half – including going five-of-eight from three-point range – to build a 19-point lead in the opening stanza.  Meanwhile, the Miners hit just 38.5 percent of their attempts during that same stretch of time, allowing Bellarmine to make a big run late in the half to take a commanding lead.

Bellarmine had a 9-0 run after the Miners scored the opening basket of the contest on a Clement Bonardo (LaFarlede, France/Costebelle) three-pointer to take a lead it would not relinquish.  S&T was able to get the lead down to two on a jumper from just inside the free throw line by Zach Ellis (St. Louis, Mo./Whitfield School) at the 14:19, but that was followed by a 10-0 spurt by the Knights to give them a 12-point advantage before the midway point of the first half.

The Miners trailed by 12 at 33-21 with 6:30 to play in the first half, but Bellarmine outscored them 15-6 before Curtis Okafor (Kansas City, Mo./Bishop Miege) beat the buzzer with a basket that made it a 19-point game at the intermission.

S&T had an opportunity to cut the margin to under 10 midway through the second half after the Knights were assessed a technical foul after committing a foul on the floor, but missed all four free throws.  The Knights followed by outscoring the Miners 16-3 to take their largest lead of the contest at 73-47.

The Miners (8-4, 1-3 GLVC) had four players in double figures, led by Desmond Buerge (Carthage, Mo./Carthage) with 14 points and Bonardo with 13.  S&T also got 11 from Michael Nesbitt (Evansville, Ind./LaLumiere School) as it finished the game at 34.6 percent from the field.

Jake Thelen led all scorers with 23 points as Bellarmine (11-1, 3-0 GLVC) ended up at 56.6 percent from the floor for the contest.  Josh Sewell, a transfer from Miami of Ohio, added 15.

Missouri S&T will host Southern Indiana (9-2, 2-1 GLVC) Saturday at 3 p.m. The Screaming Eagles suffered their second loss of the season Thursday in an 80-59 loss at Drury.