RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – After overcoming a 14-point deficit in the second half and holding a lead in the latter stages of regulation time, MissourI S&T went cold from the field in overtime and ended up on the short end of a 91-88 decision Saturday afternoon at Arkansas Tech.

The Miners trailed 57-43 after Alex Brown – who scored a game-high 40 points for the Wonder Boys – hit a three-pointer at the 16:32 mark of the second half.  S&T started clawing back after the Brown trey and eventually caught the Wonder Boys with 5:38 remaining on a three-pointer by Danylo Zuikov (Kiev, Ukraine/LaLumiere School).

With 3:18 to play, the Miners took their first lead of the contest at 78-75 when Ervin Sarajlic (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville) drained a three-pointer from in front of the S&T bench and held that advantage until the final minute of play.  Following two free throws by ATU's Justin Graham that trimmed the lead to one, Juwan Miller (Kitchener, Ont./Huron Heights) hit a jumper in the lane to make it a three-point game again with 2:43 left.

Arkansas Tech got to within a point again when Graham hit two more free throws with just over a minute remaining, but with 28 seconds to go, Miller missed the front end of a one-and-one and the Wonder Boys were able to tie it with 12 seconds when Bennie Lufile made one of two at the line. 

S&T took the initial lead in overtime on a lay-in by Dulan Scott (Chicago, IL/Farragut Academy) on their first possession, but didn't make another field goal until Sarajlic hit a three-pointer with two seconds on the clock.  Following the Scott basket, Brown hit a pair of baseline jumpers that put ATU into the lead for good.

Sarajlic's three-pointer with two seconds remaining made it 90-88, then Graham made one of two at the line and the Miners called a timeout after getting the rebound on the missed second attempt.  With 1.7 seconds to work with, S&T threw the inbounds pass down the floor, but missed a potential game-tying shot as the buzzer sounded.

Arkansas Tech opened the game by making its first seven shots from the floor to take a 17-4 lead before three minutes had been played.  The Miners worked their way back into the contest, getting the lead down to three in the opening half when Randy Holmes (St. Louis, MO/Soldan International Studies) made two free throws with 6:40 left in the half.

However, Brown began warming up for the Wonder Boys, scoring 14 of ATU's final 16 points to close the half to help his team extend its lead back to 13 at the intermission.

The Miners (7-3) had five players in double figures Saturday, led Scott and Holmes with 15 points apiece.  Jalen Myers (Shorewood, IL/Minooka) had 14 – including four of S&T's 10 three-point baskets – while Miller and Sarajlic finished with 10 apiece.  The Miners shot 40 percent from the field, but hit only two of seven during the overtime session.

Lufile added 18 points and a game-high 22 rebounds for Arkansas Tech (6-2), although the Miners had a three-rebound advantage over the Wonder Boys in the contest.

Missouri S&T will return to Great Lakes Valley Conference play Thursday when it hosts Lewis (7-5, 2-0 GLVC) at 7:30 p.m.  The Miners will come into the contest at 1-1 in GLVC play.