ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T will return to Great Lakes Valley Conference play Saturday – this time for good -- seeking to not only win for the fifth straight time, but also to keep pace in the loss column with league leader Indianapolis as it faces Lincoln University in a 3:30 p.m. contest in Jefferson City, Mo.

The Miners, 4-2 overall and 2-0 in the GLVC, won their fourth straight contest Saturday when they rallied from a halftime deficit for the second week in a row for a 52-30 win at Saint Francis (Ill.).  S&T outscored the Saints 24-0 in the final 30 minutes – holding its opponent scoreless in the second half for the third game in a row – as it got a record-setting performance from Deshawn Jones (Olympia Fields, IL/Rich Central) in the win.

Lincoln comes in at 1-4 overall and 0-2 in the GLVC after losing 30-10 last week at Albany State.  The Blue Tigers led the game at halftime, but had only 88 yards of total offense in the second half and were outscored 21-0 as they dropped their third consecutive contest.

ABOUT THE MINERS: Missouri S&T got a school and GLVC record 275 rushing yards from Deshawn Jones (Olympia Fields, IL/Rich Central) and saw its defense blank an opponent in the second half for the third straight week to win for the fourth consecutive time in its win Saturday at Saint Francis (Ill.).

Jones, the leading rusher in the GLVC with 786 yards on the season, ran for 120 yards in the third quarter and scored two of his school record-tying four touchdowns, including a 32-yard scoring run that put S&T into the lead for good.  Later in the third quarter, he raced 69 yards for a touchdown as part of a day that was the third-best rushing performance in NCAA Division II this season.

Jones also finished with 324 all-purpose yards – the second-most in a game in school history and the fifth-most in a GLVC contest – and leads the conference with 972 all-purpose yards, just ahead of teammate Braxton Graham (Seneca, MO/Seneca)'s 829.

Graham has a team-high 36 catches for 603 yards and five scores, while Justin Vaughn (Houston, TX/George Bush) has made 22 receptions for 359 yards on the year.

Quarterback Tyler Swart (Dickinson, TX/Dickinson) leads the GLVC and is ranked sixth in NCAA Division II in passing with 1,879 yards; he has completed 63.7 percent of his passes and has thrown a league-high 13 touchdown passes heading into this weekend's action.

The Miner defense has been paced by linebackers Austin Truvillion (Kansas City, MO/Park Hill), who leads the Miners with 52 tackles on the season and Landon Compton (Lamar, MO/Lamar), who has been in on 45 stops and leads S&T with 11.5 tackles for a loss.  Tershawn Wharton (University City, MO/University City) has made 44 tackles, including a team-high 5.5 sacks and 10 tackles for a loss, while Ryan Kirkendall (Silsbee, TX/Silsbee) is tied for ninth in Division II in passes defended, including a league-high 10 pass breakups.
 
ABOUT LINCOLN: Despite their 1-4 record, the Blue Tigers have been one of the better defensive teams in the nation statistically this season, allowing opponents an average of just 251.6 yards per game and only 127 yards a game through the air.  Those marks rank sixth and fourth, respectively, in NCAA Division II.

Linebacker Willard Cotton leads Lincoln with 42 tackles and fellow linebacker Addison Tucker has made 41 on the season.  The Blue Tigers have recorded 29 tackles behind the line of scrimmage – Cotton is responsible for 6.5 of them – but Lincoln has only six quarterback sacks this season and has yet to intercept a pass.

One other plus from the defensive side for the Blue Tigers – they have blocked four punts this season and have scored two touchdowns off the blocked punts.

While the Blue Tigers lead the GLVC in total defense, they are last in total offense with an average of 286.2 yards per game and are scoring a league-low 18 points per game.  Lincoln scored 49 of its 90 points this season in its lone victory over Lincoln (Pa.) on Sept. 9.
 
Quarterback Eugene Sainterling has completed 59.8 percent of his passes for 562 yards and four touchdowns, with A'Jani Johnson leading the receiving corps with 25 catches for 213 yards. Blake Tibbs has caught 19 passes for 221 yards and has three of Lincoln's five touchdown receptions.

Freshman running back Harold Lacy leads the running game with 255 yards and three scores.