ROLLA, Mo. – A big second half propelled Missouri S&T to a win to close its home schedule Thursday night, as the Miners shot 51.6 percent from the field while holding Drury in check to record a 77-62 win at Billy Key Court.

The result of Thursday's win and other results around the Great Lakes Valley Conference on the final night of regular season play will send S&T (12-13, 6-12 GLVC) to Truman State for its opening round game in the conference tournament Sunday afternoon.  The Miners and Bulldogs will face off at 3 p.m. in Kirksville, Mo.

On the floor Thursday, the Panthers grabbed an eight-point advantage in the first five minutes of play, but S&T rattled off nine straight and took its first lead at 16-15 on a three-point play by Randy Holmes (St. Louis, MO/Soldan International Studies) at the 12:11 mark.  The Miners and Panthers went back and forth for the remainder of the half before Drury took a five-point lead late in the period.

S&T responded by scoring the final five points of the half, getting two free throws from Telloy Simon (Kitchener, Ont./St. Mary's) and a three-pointer from Danylo Zuikov (Kiev, Ukraine/LaLumiere School) just before the half ended to send the teams to the locker room tied at 33.

The Miners shot just 32 percent in the opening half, but came out of the gate after the break and took an immediate four-point lead on a pair of baskets by Rokas Paulauskas (Talsiai, Lithuania/Hamilton Heights Acad.).  After the Panthers bounced back and took a one-point lead following a three-pointer by John Williams, S&T took it right back when Jalen Myers (Shorewood, IL/Minooka) knocked down a long-range jumper on its next trip down the floor.

Drury tied the game at 42 on Joshua Palmer's jumper after the Myers trey, but a three by Ervin Sarajlic (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville) put S&T back in front – and after both teams went through a scoring drought – the Miners made their push to take control of the contest.

Holmes hit a three-pointer with 13:36 left to give S&T its biggest lead of the game, then a steal and lay-up by Myers extended the margin to eight.  Moments later, Myers drilled another three-pointer to extend the lead into double figures.

With six minutes to play and holding a nine-point lead, the Miners put the game away with 12-1 run capped by a three-point play by Holmes that gave S&T a 20-point advantage by the 3:26 mark.

Holmes led the Miners with 20 points, while Myers finished with 18 and Paulauskas with his seventh double-double of the season with 10 points and a season-high 13 rebounds.  The Miners had a nine-rebound advantage in the game as well while shooting 51.6 percent in the second half.

Palmer was the only Panther in double figures with 21 points as Drury (17-9, 10-8 GLVC) made just 35.5 percent of its shots after the intermission and 41.9 percent for the game.

The Miners finished tied with Saint Joseph's in the overall GLVC standings, but were edged in the tiebreaker due to the Pumas' home win over fourth-seeded Wisconsin-Parkside, whom the Miners lost to at home in January.  S&T beat its Sunday opponent, Truman, 96-91 in Kirksville on Jan. 28.