QUINCY, Ill. – Missouri S&T went toe-to-toe with one of the top teams in the Great Lakes Valley Conference's West Division in the first game of a four-game road trip, but fell short as Quincy overtook the Miners in the final minute for an 85-81 win at Pepsi Arena.

Joseph Tagarelli's tip-in of Evan McGaughey's missed shot with 36 seconds remaining put the Hawks on top for good, as the Miners missed a pair of opportunities to tie or take the lead in the final moments as they fell short in their upset bid.

Quincy had a 61-52 lead with 13:25 remaining following a dunk by McGaughey, but the Miners ran off 10 straight points to take the lead for the first time since early in the contest, a run capped by two free throws by Danylo Zuikov (Kiev, Ukraine/LaLumiere School).  Quincy regained the advantage moments later before the Miners took the lead back with 7:27 to go on a basket by Jalen Myers (Shorewood, IL/Minooka).

Myers' basket started a surge where the Miners outscored the Hawks 11-3 over the next two minutes, taking as much as a seven-point lead on a steal and dunk by Telloy Simon (Kitchener, Ont./St. Mary's).  S&T then had a chance to extend that margin, but missed two shots before Quincy's Von Washington hit a three-pointer to cut the lead back to four.

The Miners did get the back to six following a Hawk timeout when Rokas Paulauskas (Talsiai, Lithuania/Hamilton Heights Acad.) tipped in a miss by Myers, but S&T did not make a field goal after that basket with 4:27 remaining to allow the Hawks to close the gap and eventually take the lead.

With 2:46 to go, Simon hit a pair of free throws to put S&T up 81-77, but Quincy got the lead to one as Washington made one of two at the line and Herm Senor scored on a fast break lay-up.   After another missed shot by the Miners, the Hawks got the lead on Tagarelli's tip-in on their next trip down the floor.

The Miners came out of the gate cold from the field, allowing Quincy to build as much as an 11-point lead in the first half.  However, S&T used a 6-0 run to cut into the lead and continued trimming it throughout the half, eventually getting to three with under three minutes remaining when Zuikov hit a three-pointer.

Quincy would lead by six at the intermission after Washington scored just before the first half buzzer sounded and led by as many as 10 early in the second half before the Miners clawed back into the contest.

Paulauskas recorded his second straight double-double with a team-high 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead four Miners in double figures in the scoring column.  Simon finished with 15 points, while Zuikov had 12 and Juwan Miller (Kitchener, Ont./Huron Heights) finished with 10, to go along with four assists and six steals.

The Miners (8-9, 2-8 GLVC) shot only 38 percent for the game and connected on eight-of-29 from three-point range, but did force the Hawks (17-4, 7-3 GLVC) into 18 turnovers.

Tagarelli had 21 points and Washington had 20 to lead Quincy, who stayed within a game of GLVC West leader Truman State, who bombed Drury 93-60 Thursday in Kirksville.

The Miners will face Truman (16-4, 8-2 GLVC) in a 3 p.m. contest Saturday in Kirksville, Mo.