ROLLA, Mo. – Still seeking its first win in Great Lakes Valley Conference play, Missouri S&T hits the road for a pair of games against the top two teams in the GLVC's East Division beginning with Thursday's contest at Southern Indiana.

The Miners will face the Screaming Eagles at 7:30 p.m. in Evansville, Ind., before moving down the road to Louisville, Ky., to take on sixth-ranked Bellarmine Saturday afternoon at 3:15 p.m. (Eastern time).

Missouri S&T enters play this week at 2-13 overall and will be looking to snap a losing streak that has now reached seven games.  On Monday, the Miners played right with William Jewell and were tied with the Cardinals with just under 13 minutes remaining in the second half before the Cardinals went on a 27-4 run to take control of the contest.

Allante Pickens (Chicago, IL/Curie) led the Miners in scoring for the second straight game with 19 points, while Chris Harris (Antioch, IL/Lake Forest Academy), S&T's leading scorer on the season, added 17.  Harris is averaging 14.1 per game heading into Thursday's contest and leads a group fo five double figure scorers for S&T.

Romain Louiserre (La Ferte Alais, France/Fredrick Fays) comes in with an average of 13.1 points per game, while Pickens is scoring 12.1 per game, Sebastian Ferenc (Zgierz, Poland/) is at 11.9 points and a team-high eight rebounds per game and Dulan Scott (Chicago, IL/Farragut Academy) is at 10.6 per game.  Ervin Sarajlic (St. Louis, MO/Oakville) is just outside of double figures at 9.6 points per outing and leads the Miners with 40 assists.

ABOUT SOUTHERN INDIANA:  The Screaming Eagles are 13-5 on the season following Monday's 78-62 loss to then second-ranked Bellarmine, as the Knights shot 61.5 percent in the second half to USI's mark of 37.9 percent to break open a close contest.

Alex Stein leads USI in scoring with an average of 19.2 points per game, the second-best mark in the GLVC and is also one of the league's top free throw shooters at 94.9 percent; he has missed only five of his 98 attempts on the year.   Stein is also shooting 41.3 percent from three-point range and is one of three Screaming Eagles with at least 25 made three-point baskets.

The other two with at least 25 makes from long range are also averaging in double figures, as Nate Hansen is scoring 15.2 points a game while shooting 41.4 percent from long range and Marcellous Washington his hitting over 38 percent of his threes while scoring 11.9 points a game.  Hansen has a team-high 41 treys and Washington has connected 38 times.

Washington is also fifth in the GLVC in assists with 72, while DayJar Dickson is USI's top rebounder with 7.7 per contest.  As a team, USI is shooting 48.3 percent from the field – Dickson leads the way at 64.1 percent – and has outrebounded its opponents by nine rebounds per game, the second-best differential in the conference.

ABOUT BELLARMINE:  After winning Monday over Southern Indiana, the Knights – ranked sixth in this week's NABC/Division II poll – bring a 15-1 overall record and 6-1 conference mark into play this week.  Bellarmine will host Drury Thursday before the Miners make their visit to Knights Hall Saturday afternoon, where the Knights own the longest home winning streak in NCAA Division II at 52 games.

Adam Eberhard leads the Knights in several categories, including scoring with an average of 16.3 points per game, rebounding with 6.4 per contest and steals with 20 while shooting 65.5 percent from the field and 59.4 percent from three-point range.  Eberhard had 24 points on Saturday when the Knights lost at Wisconsin-Parkside to end their undefeated run at 14 games to start the year.

Brent Bach is also in double figures in the scoring column at 15.4 points per contest following his 28-point effort Monday and is shooting 59 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point land himself.   However, the Knights have seven other players averaging between 5.5 and 9.3 points per game on the year.  Ben Weyer is just short of double figures with the 9.3 average, while Jarek Coles is at 7.1 per game with a team-high 64 assists.

The Knights, who have ranked among the national leaders in field goal percentage in recent seasons, are again near the top with their GLVC-leading mark of 52.9 percent heading into play on Thursday.    Bellarmine is also hitting 42.8 percent of its three-point attempts and has held its opponents to 42.3 percent from the field.