ROLLA, Mo. – Arkansas Tech's long-range shooting in the first half gave the Wonder Boys a sizable advantage in Sunday's men's basketball game with Missouri S&T, then was able to hold off the Miners' rally efforts in the final 20 minutes to hand S&T a 96-81 loss at Billy Key Court.

The Wonder Boys (9-1), who entered the game ranked sixth in NCAA Division II with an average of 12.4 three-point baskets per game, connected nine times in the first half to build a 17-point lead by the intermission.  They used the long ball to wipe out an early S&T (2-8) lead in the game and then built on that advantage throughout the half.

Missouri S&T led by as many as six in the early going after a pair of Romain Louiserre (La Ferte Alais, France/Fredrick Fays) free throws at the 14:59 mark, but an 8-0 run by Tech gave them a 13-11 lead.  Following a lay-in by Dulan Scott (Chicago, IL/Farragut Academy) that tied the game back up with 13:41 to go in the half, the Wonder Boys went on a 16-0 run to take command of the contest.

The first 12 points of that run came from beyond the three-point arc from redshirt freshman R.J. Glasper, who went five-of-six from three-point range in a first half where he scored 22 of his game-high 26 points.

Arkansas Tech finished the first half with a 50-33 lead and extended it to as many as 28 points after scoring the first 11 points after the break before the Miners started cutting into the margin.

The Miners used a 13-0 run midway through the second half to Tech's lead down to 15, then had the lead down to 10 with under two minutes remaining following a three-pointer by Scott before Mason Cline hit the Wonder Boys' 15^th three-pointer of the contest with just under a minute to go to snuff out any late rally hopes.

Chris Harris (Antioch, IL/Lake Forest Academy) led four Miners in double figures with 23 points – one shy of his career high – while Scott added 17.  The Miners also got a career-high 12 points from Joe Johnson (Waynesville, MO/Waynesville) and 10 from Louiserre in the contest.

Louiserre finished with a double-double as he pulled down 11 rebounds, while the Miners had a 10-rebound advantage (48-38) in the game as Ervin Sarajlic (St. Louis, MO/Oakville) and Sebastian Ferenc (Zgierz, Poland/) also had nine rebounds apiece.

S&T shot 43.5 percent for the game after hitting 52.8 percent of its shots in the second half, while Arkansas Tech finished the afternoon at 44.7 percent from the field.  The Wonder Boys had five players in double figures in the scoring column.

Missouri S&T returns to the floor Thursday when it resumes its Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule against Truman State.  The Miners and Bulldogs will tip off at 7:30 p.m. in Kirksville, Mo.