Game Coverage (UIS):	Game Notes	Live Video (GLVCSN)	Live Audio	Live Stats
Game Coverage (McKendree):	Game Notes	Live Video (GLVCSN)	Live Audio	Live Stats

ROLLA, Mo. -- In the midst of a wild scramble to make the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament, Missouri S&T will host a pair of criticial games in the upcoming week at Billy Key Court.

The Miners, 9-11 overall and 3-10 in the GLVC, will host Illinois Springfield Thursday at 7:30 p.m., followed by a 3 p.m. matchup Saturday against McKendree.  Thursday's game with UIS will S&T's Breast Cancer Awareness game, with fans encouraged to wear pink to the game and a table will be set up for trivia games and prizes.  The event is sponsored by Zeta Tau Alpha.

On Saturday, Missouri S&T will host its annual Military Appreciation Day at Billy Key Court and all military personnel – active or retired – will be admitted free along with their immediate family members with a military I.D. card.   In addition, the senior members of the Missouri S&T men's and women's basketball teams will be honored following the conclusion of the women's game with McKendree.

The Miners come into Thursday's contest sitting among a pack of teams trying to finish among the top 12 in the overall conference race to make the tournament field.  S&T's next four games are against teams in a group that has between two and four wins in league play.

Jalen Myers (Shorewood, IL/Minooka) continues to lead the Miners in scoring with an average of 14.4 points per game and is among the leaders in three-pointers made with 54 on the season.  Teammate Ervin Sarajlic (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville), who has made 36 treys, is fifth in the GLVC as he has connected on 50 percent of his attempts from long range.

As a team, the Miners are one of three in the GLVC averaging more than 10 three-point baskets per game.

S&T is also getting 12 points per game from Telloy Simon (Kitchener, Ont./St. Mary's) -- who has hit 38 threes on his own part -- 11.7 per contest from Randy Holmes (St. Louis, MO/Soldan International Studies) and 10.3 a game from Juwan Miller (Kitchener, Ont./Huron Heights), who with his next assist will become only the second Miner in history with back-to-back seasons with 100 or more assists.

Miller ranks second in the GLVC in steals with 44 on the year and is third in assists per game with just under five per contest.

ABOUT ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD: The Prairie Stars come into Thursday's game looking to snap a six-game losing streak as they enter at 7-15 overall and 2-11 in the GLVC.  UIS fell 71-61 to Maryville Saturday, despite getting 20 points from their top scorer this season, Eddie Longmeyer.
               
Longmeyer, who hit nine-of-14 from the field while coming off the bench Saturday, is averaging 14.6 points per game and also leads the Prairie Stars with 94 assists.  He is joined by three others in double figures in Paxton Harmon at 13.3 points per contest, Zach Steinberg at 12.7 per game and Vince Walker -- the son of former Miner and current UIS head coach Bill Walker -- at 12.4 points a contest. 

Walker has a team-high 58 three-point baskets that also ranks in the top 10 in the GLVC. while Harmon has been successful 47 times from beyond the arc.  The Prairie Stars are shooting nearly 39 percent from three-point range, with Harmon hitting 43.5 percent of his attempts and Walker 43.3 percent -- and are at 46.1 percent from the floor overall.

Steinberg is the top rebounder in the conference with nine per game, including 61 on the offensive end.

The Miners are looking to snap a four-game losing streak to the Prairie Stars; UIS beat S&T 78-74 last season in Springfield.

ABOUT McKENDREE: The Bearcats come into play this week with the same record as the Miners -- 9-11 overall -- and are one-half game ahead of S&T in the GLVC standings at 3-9 (McKendree, who plays at Drury Thursday, will make up a postponed game at William Jewell on Monday).  The Bearcats have won their last two contests, including a 79-69 win over Missouri-St. Louis Saturday as Michael Jackson recorded his eighth game this year with at least 20 points with a game-high 26.

Jackson ranks eighth in the GLVC in scoring with an average of 17.3 points per game and also leads McKendree with 37 three-point baskets, while David Franklin is averaging 16.5 a contest.  The Bearcats are also getting 14.7 points a game from Justin Blanks and 13.9 per outing from Nate Michael, who has 30 three-pointers this year.

Franklin, who did not play in McKendree's first nine games of the season, is averaging 8.9 rebounds a game, while Nolan Gerling -- a 62 percent shooter from the floor -- is pulling down 7.5 a game.  Meanwhile, Kyle Yates leads the Bearcats in both assists with 68 and steals with 26.

The Bearcats rallied from a 19-point deficit to beat S&T 108-105 in overtime last season in Lebanon, Ill.  Two years ago in the last meeting in Rolla, the Miners beat McKendree 85-72 in a game where Danylo Zuikov (Kiev, Ukraine/LaLumiere School) set the S&T single game record with 13 assists.