ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's men's basketball team will look to build some momentum heading into the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament when it completes its 2016-17 home schedule Thursday by hosting Drury at Billy Key Court. Game time is at 7:30 p.m.
The Miners and Panthers – both of whom have clinched a berth to the conference tournament – meet up for the second time this season in the regular season finale for both teams. Drury shot 55.2 percent from the field in the first meeting with S&T and pulled away in the second half for a 92-72 win in Springfield on Dec. 10.
S&T, 11-13 overall and 5-12 in the GLVC, is coming off an 89-79 loss Saturday at Maryville despite getting 17 points from
Ervin Sarajlic (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville). Sarajlic is shooting nearly 52 percent from three-point range and is one of three Miners who have made more than 40 three-pointers on the season.
Four Miners are averaging in double figures on the year, led by
Jalen Myers (Shorewood, IL/Minooka) with an average of 14.5 points per game and a team-high 66 three-point baskets. S&T is also getting 12.5 points a game from
Randy Holmes (St. Louis, MO/Soldan International Studies) and 12 per game from
Telloy Simon (Kitchener, Ont./St. Mary's), while
Juwan Miller (Kitchener, Ont./Huron Heights) – the fourth double figure scorer at 10.9 points a game – is third in the GLVC with 130 assists.
Missouri S&T will play its opening round game in the conference tournament away from home on Sunday; its opponent will be determined upon the conclusion of play around the league Thursday night.
ABOUT DRURY: The Panthers enter play Thursday sporting a four-game winning streak and are 17-8 on the year. Drury has clinched a home game in the opening round of the GLVC Tournament and will host Rockhurst Sunday as the eighth seed in the tournament.
Drury rallied for pair of road wins last week, including Saturday's 81-79 overtime victory at Missouri-St. Louis when it trailed by eight with 45 seconds remaining in regulation time. Tevin Foster hit a three-pointer with four seconds to go to send the game to overtime, then Brandon Wolfe's three-pointer with under a minute left in overtime turned out to be the game-winning basket.
Foster leads the Panthers in scoring with an average of 13.7 points per game and ranks eighth in the GLVC with 112 assists while ranking as the league's third-best free throw shooter at 90.2 percent. He is one of four Panthers averaging in double figures along with Isaac Johnson at 12.4 points per game, John Williams at 10.8 per game and Joshua Palmer with an average of 10.6 a contest.
