ROLLA, Mo. – Leading virtually from start to finish, Missouri S&T captured its Great Lakes Valley Conference opener Thursday night by knocking off Maryville 83-73 at Billy Key Court.

S&T never trailed in the contest as it won its GLVC opener for only the second time in 11 tries since joining the league in the 2005-06 season.  The tone of the performance was set by B.J. McLaughlin (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central), who recorded a career scoring high for the second game in succession with 27 points.

McLaughlin scored 10 of S&T's first 13 points as the Miners raced out to a 13-5 lead in the first 3:18 of play.  The Miners would lead by as many as 12 in the first half after another basket by McLaughlin – who scored 16 in the first half -- at the 12:06 mark.

Maryville clawed back into the contest by outscoring S&T 12-2 over the next four minutes and the game remained tight for the better part of the last eight minutes of the opening half.  However, the Miners never lost the advantage and got the lead out to seven following a three-point play by Tyler Anderson (Lee's Summit, Mo./Lee's Summit North) before taking a five-point lead to the locker room.

S&T would push its lead to nine by scoring the first four points of the second half and was able to keep the Saints at bay even as they kept cutting in the margin.  Derek Deters made one-of-two at the line with 8:16 to go to bring Maryville to within three at 53-50, but a three-pointer out of the corner by Quinn Poythress (Jackson, Mo./Notre Dame Regional), followed by a basket and then a trey by Zach Ellis (St. Louis, Mo./Whitfield School) extended S&T's lead back to 11.

The Miners were able to keep the lead at or near double figures from that point on, getting key baskets from McLaughlin and Desmond Buerge (Carthage, Mo./Carthage) with under five minutes to go to stave off the Saints' rally efforts.

Missouri S&T shot 44.4 percent for the game and committed its fewest turnovers in a game this season with only eight, while forcing Maryville into 19 on the night.  Ellis joined McLaughlin in double figures with 15 points, while Danylo Zuikov (Kiev, Ukraine/LaLumiere School) and Juwan Miller (Kitchener, Ont./Huron Heights) had eight points apiece; Miller also added a game-high five assists.

Marvin Grant-Clark led the Saints (2-5, 0-1 GLVC) with 19 points, while Deters added 12 and Saikou Jallow finished with 10.

S&T (2-5, 1-0 GLVC) will return to action Saturday with a 3 p.m. game at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.  The Tritons dropped their league opener Thursday 60-51 to Drury.