RIVERSIDE, Calif. – An ice cold first half from the floor doomed Missouri S&T's men's basketball team Saturday night, as the Miners dropped their second contest on their trip to the west coast with a 70-50 setback to Academy of Art in the California Baptist Thanksgiving Classic.

The Miners missed their final 16 shots from the field in the first half to fall into an 18-point hole by the intermission and were unable to make a significant dent into the Urban Knights' lead in the final 20 minutes as they fell to 1-4 on the year.

S&T hit four of its first seven shots from the field in Saturday's game and a three-pointer by Ervin Sarajlic (St. Louis, MO/Oakville) with exactly 16 minutes to go in the first half gave the Miners a 10-6 lead.  However, Sarajlic's basket ended up being the last field goal the Miners would make in the first half.

With the score tied at 11 midway through the first half, Romain Louiserre (La Ferte Alais, France/Fredrick Fays) made one-of-two at the free throw line to give the Miners a one-point lead, but the Urban Knights (1-5) got a second chance opportunity on their next trip down the floor and cashed it in when Stefan Milivojevic drained a three-pointer to put Academy of Art into the lead.

That three-pointer started an 18-0 run that built the lead to 17 by the 2:29 mark before Louiserre halted the string of points with a pair of free throws.

S&T shot only 17.4 percent in the first half and finished the contest at 33.3 percent.

Sebastian Ferenc (Zgierz, Poland/) led S&T with 13 points and Louiserre also ended up in double figures with 10.  The Miners made only two three-point baskets in the game, both of which came in the first four minutes of the contest.

Academy of Art's Nick Conway led all scorers with 14 points, as the Urban Knights made 43.8 percent of their attempts from the field.

 The Miners will resume play with its Great Lakes Valley Conference opener next Saturday when they host Illinois Springfield at 3 p.m. at Billy Key Court.