ROLLA, Mo. – Monday's game could not have started out better for Missouri S&T's men's basketball, but a mid-game struggle put the Miners into a deficit they could not recover from as Harris-Stowe defeated S&T 96-87 on Education Day at Missouri S&T.

With a large crowd of students from the local elementary schools in attendance, the Miners got out to an 11-0 lead to start the game.  S&T got a three-pointer from Romain Louiserre (La Ferte Alais, France/Fredrick Fays) and a pair of treys by Ervin Sarajlic (St. Louis, MO/Oakville), followed by a steal and dunk by Louiserre to take the 11-0 lead in the first 2:19 of action.

S&T (2-7) made five of its first six shots from the floor and held the lead for a good portion of the opening half, still holding a nine-point advantage after a basket by Louiserre at the 12:18 mark.  However, the Hornets (7-5) clawed back and took their first lead at 26-24 following a three-pointer by Corey Wells.

The teams swapped the lead over the next two minutes until Deandre Clark knocked down a three-pointer with 4:55 to go in the half to give the Hornets the lead for good.  S&T was within one following a lay-in by Chris Harris (Antioch, IL/Lake Forest Academy) at the 4:01 mark, but did not score over the balance of the half and Harris-Stowe scored the final seven points to take a 43-35 lead to the locker room.

The two squads combined to hit 17 three-point baskets in the first 20 minutes of play – nine by Harris-Stowe and eight by S&T – but the Hornets remained hot to begin the second half and extended the lead into double figures in the first three minutes and used a 16-0 run over a span of four minutes to break the game open.

Harris-Stowe hit three-point baskets on four consecutive possessions during that run among the 19 it made during the contest.

After falling behind by as many as 26 points during the second half, the Miners cut into the lead and got it down to 11 at the 5:09 mark after a basket by Sebastian Ferenc (Zgierz, Poland/), but could not draw any closer until less than a minute remained in the contest.

Missouri S&T shot 54.4 percent for the game and hit a season-high 15 three-pointers as it had five players in double figures in the contest, led by Louiserre with 24 points and Harris with 22; Louiserre, who had 19 of his points in the first half, matched his career high on Monday.

The Miners also got 13 points from Allante Pickens (Chicago, IL/Curie) and 10 apiece from Sarajlic and Sebastian Ferenc (Zgierz, Poland/).

Dwane Miner had a game-high 26 points to lead the Hornets, who got 74 of their 96 points from their top four scorers in the game.  Harris-Stowe also outrebounded S&T by a 40-26 margin.

Missouri S&T will return to action on New Year's Eve when it hosts Arkansas Tech in a 2 p.m. contest at Billy Key Court.