ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T held Rockhurst to 17.4 percent shooting from the field in the first half Thursday night, but the Hawks turned the tables after the intermission by hitting 65.7 percent of their shots and upended the Miners 87-81 at Billy Key Court.

The Miners led by nine at halftime and also had a nine-point advantage four minutes into the second half, but the Hawks charged back and caught the Miners before the half reached the midway point.  From that point on, the two teams were in a tight battle until Rockhurst broke free in the final minute of play in the Great Lakes Valley Conference contest.

With the game tied at 69 after B.J. McLaughlin (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central) had made two free throws and Rockhurst turned the ball over an errant pass down the court, the Miners missed a chance to move back in front with just under five minutes remaining.  Dominique Washington, who was a handful for the Miners in the second half, scored on the Hawks' next trip down the floor to put Rockhurst up for good with 4:22 to play.

The Hawks would increase the lead to five before the Miners started cutting into the margin from long range.  Danylo Zuikov (Kiev, Ukraine/LaLumiere School) knocked down a three-pointer with 1:59 left to cut the lead to two, then following a turnaround jumper in the lane by Sam Briscoe, Zach Ellis (St. Louis, Mo./Whitfield School) hit another trey to make it a one-point game with 1:22 remaining.

Washington answered with a short jumper to put Rockhurst back up by three, then Michael Nesbitt (Evansville, Ind./LaLumiere School) missed a shot that would have tied it with 43 seconds to play; the long rebound went to the Hawks, who proceeded to ice the win at the free throw line.

S&T jumped out to an 8-0 lead to start the contest and held the advantage until 11:48 remained on the clock in the first half, when Adam Fatkin hit a pair of free throws to put the Hawks up 15-14.  Despite its struggles from the floor in the opening half – when it made just four-of-23 – Rockhurst stayed in the game at the foul line by making 17-of-18.

The Miners led 26-24 with six minutes to go in the half, then outscored Rockhurst 9-2 to finish the opening 20 minutes with a nine-point lead.  The Hawks chopped into the lead at the outset of the second half, getting it down to two before a 7-0 run by S&T, capped by a three-pointer from Ellis, put the Miners back up by nine at 43-34.

Rockhurst answered back by scoring 15 of the game's next 20 points to take its first lead of the second half, then the teams swapped the lead nine times over the next three minutes.

Ellis led four Miners in double figures with 24 points, going 10-of-14 from the floor and four-of-six from beyond the arc in his second-best scoring effort of the season.  S&T also got 14 points from Nesbitt, along with 12 from Desmond Buerge (Carthage, Mo./Carthage) and 10 from Clement Bonardo (LaFarlede, France/Costebelle).

Washington scored 25 of his game-high 28 points in the second half, while Fatkin added 20 for the Hawks (7-17, 3-13 GLVC).  Rockhurst finished the game at 46.6 percent from the field and made 25 of its 42 shots from inside the three-point line, as well as 31-of-35 at the free throw line.

The Hawks also outrebounded the Miners 42-30, including a 23-7 margin in the second half when they outscored S&T 61-46.

S&T shot 45.5 percent for the game and hit eight-of-24 from long range, but was only 13-of-24 at the foul line.

The Miners (9-15, 2-14 GLVC) will host William Jewell in their final home game of the season Saturday at 3 p.m.  Saturday's game is Senior Day and Military Appreciation Day at Missouri S&T; all military members – active or retired – and their immediate families will be admitted free to the doubleheader that will begin with the women's game between S&T and William Jewell at 1 p.m.