ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Maryville's hot shooting from three-point range, starting late in the first half, allowed it to break free from Missouri S&T's men's basketball team Thursday night as the Saints came away with an 81-60 Great Lakes Valley Conference victory at Moloney Arena.

The Saints made their final two three-point shots in the first half to extend a two-point lead to eight at the intermission  -- after making just two of their first 16 attempts from beyond the arc – then knocked down eight more treys in the second half to hand the Miners their fourth straight setback.

The Miners (1-6, 0-2 GLVC) took advantage of a cold start by the Saints (5-2, 2-1 GLVC ) to take an early six-point lead, going up 12-6 following a three-pointer by Allante Pickens (Chicago, IL/Curie) at the 11:25 mark.  Pickens drained another trey at the 8:23 mark of the half to give the Miners a 16-11 lead, but S&T went cold for a stretch and Maryville ran off an 11-0 run to take its first lead of the contest.

Romain Louiserre (La Ferte Alais, France/Fredrick Fays) scored on a goaltending call on Maryville to stop the run and S&T got back to within two with under two minutes to play in the half on back-to-back field goals by Dulan Scott (Chicago, IL/Farragut Academy).  However, the Saints got a three-pointer from Jimmy Barton and another from Nolan Berry as the first half ended to take a 32-24 lead to the locker room.

Maryville got its lead into double figures early in the second half and built it to as much as 13 in the first five minutes following another three by Barton, who connected on four of the Saints' 12 shots from long range in the game.

The Saints, who built their lead to as many as 28 after the midway point of the second half, were led by Berry with 15 points as they shot 59.4 percent overall over the final 20 minutes.  Maryville also held a 46-30 advantage over the Miners on the boards with Berry pulling down 14 of them.

S&T had four players in double figures, led by Scott and Sebastian Ferenc (Zgierz, Poland/) with 12 points apiece.  The Miners also got 11 points from Ervin Sarajlic (St. Louis, MO/Oakville) and Pickens, who saw his first action since the season opener after being out with an injury.

The Miners return home Saturday to host William Woods in a 2 p.m. contest at Billy Key Court.