ROLLA, Mo. -- Missouri S&T begins the home portion of its 2015-16 schedule Tuesday evening as it plays host to Missouri Baptist in a 7 p.m. contest at Billy Key Court in the first half of a two-game homestand.
The Miners opened their campaign over the past weekend with a pair of setbacks in the Holiday Inn Exempt Classic in Ashland, Ohio, falling 82-73 to Ashland and 100-89 to Lake Erie from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. S&T was right in the game in the early stages of the second half of both contests, but struggled with its shooting from the field in the latter stages of both games.
S&T had a trio of players in double figures in both games, led by
Zach Ellis (St. Louis, Mo./Whitfield School) as he scored 16 in the opener against Ashland and added 19 points the following day.Â
B.J. McLaughlin (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central) is averaging 12.5 points through the first two games of the year, while
Desmond Buerge (Carthage, Mo./Carthage) and newcomer Rokas Paulauskas – who had 18 points and eight rebounds Saturday against Lake Erie – are at 12 points a contest.
Paulauskas is averaging seven rebounds through the opening weekend, while McLaughlin had five steals for the Miners.
Missouri Baptist is 2-1 on the season and also lost an exhibition game in overtime at Drury on Nov. 6. The Spartans have three players averaging in double figures, paced by David Gabrovsek's average of 15.7 points per game. MBU is also getting 14.7 points a game from Isaiah Cotton and 13.7 from Chris Buzzell.
Cotton scored 19 points Saturday to lead the Spartans to an 86-67 victory over Moody Bible Institute in a tournament in Huntington, Ind.
The Miners close the brief homestand Saturday against Central Missouri.
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