SPRINGFIELD, Mo.  – For the second straight game, Missouri S&T's men's basketball team was able to overcome a double-digit deficit in the first half, but after taking the lead after the intermission, could not hold off a second half surge by Newman and lost 88-81 in its first game in the Doubletree/Houlihan's Thanksgiving Classic at Drury University.

The Miners (2-3) trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half as they made just four of their first 14 shots from the floor, but began warming up and used an 11-1 run to catch the Jets (4-2) at 27 following a three-point basket by Jordan Newt (San Francisco, CA/Malibu) at the 5:01 mark.

S&T could never take the lead before halftime, however, but caught the Jets six different times over the final five minutes of the opening half.  The sixth occasion came right at time expired when Newt answered a three-pointer by Newman's Ben Ayre with one of his own to knot the score at 43 as the teams went to the locker room.

Newman opened the second half by outscoring the Miners 10-2 to regain an eight-point lead, but S&T went on a 10-2 run of its own to tie it again following a reverse lay-up by Nikola Andric (Uzice, Serbia/Gymnasium).  Tim Troussel put the Jets back into the lead with a basket at the 15:19 mark, but the Miners gained their first lead since the game was 90 seconds old when Newt knocked down a long three-pointer 29 seconds later.

The teams would trade baskets and the lead, with S&T going back in front at 60-59 on a jumper by Juwan Miller (Kitchener, Ont./Huron Heights) and would hold onto that lead for the next eight minutes, building it to as much as seven at 70-63.  However, the Jets clawed back and regained the lead for good on two free throws by Julius Sakinis with a little over six minutes to play.

S&T had two chances to get the lead back with under five minutes to play, but missed a shot on the first possession and the front end of a one-and-one on the other before Newman would push the lead out to nine late in the contest.

The Miners shot 54.7 percent from the field – hitting better than 50 percent of their shots in both halves – but the Jets did likewise as they connected on 58.5 percent of their shots.

Newt had 21 points to lead four Miners in double figures, while Miller had 14 points and CJ Hedgepeth (Evansville, IN/Harrison) finished with 13 and added seven assists.  S&T's fourth double figure scorer was Romain Louiserre (La Ferte Alais, France/Fredrick Fays) with 10 points.

Newman's Marshawn Blackmon led all scorers in the game with 23 points as the Jets also had four players in double figures.

The Miners will face Upper Iowa in its second game of the weekend classic Saturday at 1 p.m.;  Upper Iowa upended Drury 83-78 Friday afternoon.