ST. LOUIS, Mo. – A cold shooting performance, coupled with a near-record shooting effort by Maryville, sent Missouri S&T to a 98-67 loss Saturday afternoon to the Saints in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.

Maryville shot 72.5 percent from the field – the second-best effort in school history – to build a 20-point lead by halftime and the Saints continued their hot hand in the second half to draw even with S&T in the GLVC standings as the season reaches its final week.

The Miners had two early leads in the contest, the last at 4-2 after a lay-in by Rokas Paulauskas (Talsiai, Lithuania/Hamilton Heights Acad.) at the 16:25 mark, before Maryville took the lead for good with baskets on their next two possessions.  S&T stayed with the Saints for the better part of the next six minutes, but a 7-0 burst by Maryville gave the Saints an eight-point lead with 8:21 to play in the half.

After the Miners got back to within five at 28-23 following a three-pointer by Desmond Buerge (Carthage, Mo./Carthage), Maryville ran off 14 straight points as it scored on seven consecutive trips down the floor to take a 19-point advantage late in the first half; the Saints would lead 48-28 at the half.

In the second half, Maryville went 20-of-25 from the floor and made six of its 11 three-pointers for the game.

The Miners (8-18, 4-13 GLVC) made only 33.3 percent of their shots in the first half and finished the day at 40 percent.  S&T had four players in double figures, led by Paulauskas with 15 points and B.J. McLaughlin (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central) with 14.

Buerge added 12 points for the Miners and Zach Ellis (St. Louis, Mo./Whitfield School) was the fourth double figure scorer with 10.

Maryville (10-17, 4-13 GLVC) had five players in double figures, paced by Marvin Grant-Clark with 18 points and Forrester Sims with 16.

The Miners close their regular season schedule Thursday when they face GLVC West Division leader Drury in a 7:45 p.m. game in Springfield, Mo.