LEBANON, Ill. – Missouri S&T was unable to hold onto a 19-point lead in the second half and fell in overtime to McKendree Thursday night 108-105 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.

The Miners came out of the gate hot, jumping out to a 18-9 lead just five minutes into play.  S&T used the long ball to build the early advantage, hitting four three-pointers  in that span – three by Danylo Zuikov (Kiev, Ukraine/LaLumiere School), the last of which gave it the nine-point lead.

McKendree came back and tied the score by the 12:39 mark, but back-to-back three-pointers by Telloy Simon (Kitchener, Ont./St. Mary's) and Quinn Poythress (Jackson, Mo./Notre Dame Regional) – two of nine in the opening half for the Miners – sparked a 9-2 spurt that would give S&T the lead for the remainder of the half.

The Miners led by as many as 14 late in the first half before the Bearcats scored the final five points, including a half-court shot by Nate Michael at the buzzer to leave S&T with a 52-43 lead at the break.

The hot shooting for S&T continued in the second half, as the Miners withstood an early surge by the Bearcats and then made a 7-0 run of their own, taking their largest lead of the game at 16 on a three by Simon with 11:49 remaining.

S&T had the lead up to 19 before the Bearcats began cutting into the margin, getting it down to 10 on a lay-in by David Newton at the 5:50 mark.   The Miners answered back as Zach Ellis (St. Louis, Mo./Whitfield School) beat the shot clock with a short jumper on the next trip down the floor to get the lead back to 12.

With 2:54 remaining, David Franklin converted a three-point play to bring the Bearcats to within seven at 97-90, then after McLaughlin had a shot blocked, Michael Jackson went the length of the floor for a lay-in to cut it to five.

McKendree had a chance to get closer moments later, but McLaughlin made a steal and went down for a dunk to make it 99-94 – but with 1:06 left, Franklin went to the basket and scored; his ensuing free throw made it a two-point game.

Following a missed shot by Juwan Miller (Kitchener, Ont./Huron Heights), Jackson hit a 15-footer to tie the game.   Ellis missed a three-point shot with nine seconds left, then Michael missed a long three-pointer before the buzzer to send the game to overtime.

The teams went back and forth in overtime, with the Miners taking a lead on a lay-in by Rokas Paulauskas (Talsiai, Lithuania/Hamilton Heights Acad.) with 3:16 left, only to see McKendreee move ahead when Michael made two free throws at the 2:22 mark.  Michael then hit a short jumper with 1:13 remaining to give the Bearcats a three-point lead before Ellis hit two at the line with 43 seconds left to cut the lead to one.

S&T had a chance to take the lead after McKendree failed to score on its next possession, but Miller missed a short jumper and Franklin grabbed the rebound; Franklin hit a pair at the line to extend the lead to three.  The Miners then had a chance to tie it before the buzzer, but Desmond Buerge (Carthage, Mo./Carthage) missed a contested three-pointer with two seconds to go.

The Miners, who made 19-of-49 in the second half and overtime from the field after shooting 54.1 percent in the first half, had six players in double figures in the contest.   Ellis led the contingent with 23 points, while Simon matched his career high with 17 and Paulauskas finished with 15.

Michael led all scorers with 30 points for the Bearcats (12-10, 5-9 GLVC), while Franklin had 29 and Jackson finished with 24.  McKendree also outrebounded the Miners 45-30, but the Miners did force 27 Bearcat turnovers and scored 22 points off those mistakes.

The Miners, who fell to 8-15 overall and 4-10 in the GLVC, will complete their weekend road swing Saturday when they face Illinois Springfield at 3 p.m. in Springfield, Ill.