CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Missouri S&T's men's basketball team took Southeast Missouri State of the Ohio Valley Conference down to the wire Tuesday night, but the Redhawks came away with the victory as Ledarrius Brewer hit three free throws with 7.8 seconds left and forced a turnover on S&T's final possession to take the 72-69 decision.

S&T, which trailed by 10 with over 12 minutes to play, took a one-point lead when Ervin Sarajlic (St. Louis, MO/Oakville) tipped in a CJ Hedgepeth (Evansville, IN/Harrison) miss to give the Miners a one-point lead with 21 seconds to play.  However, after giving a foul with nine seconds to go – S&T had a foul to give – Brewer was fouled on a three-point attempt from the corner with 7.8 seconds to play and hit all three free throws to give Southeast a two-point lead.

The Miners' last trip down the floor ended with a turnover and Dalton hit one-of-two at the line to seal the win for Southeast (4-3).  Tuesday's game was a discretionary exhibition for the Miners, who are 2-4 on the season.

The first few minutes of the game were tight, with no lead being larger than three points, before the Miners took their first advantage when Romain Louiserre (La Ferte Alais, France/Fredrick Fays) made two free throws at the 11:47 mark of the first half.  S&T would extend their lead to three on a steal and lay-in by Hedgepeth at the 10:11 mark that prompted a Southeast timeout.

Southeast bounced back to regain the lead and built it to as much as five following a three-pointer by Gabe McGlothan before a Hedgepeth three-pointer cut the margin back to two.    But after that three-point basket, Southeast went on a 7-0 run to take its largest lead of the half before a Hedgepeth basket brought S&T back to within seven at 39-32 at the intermission.

S&T trailed by only seven despite shooting just 33.3 percent in the first half to Southeast's mark of 59.3 percent, but the Miners forced 13 Redhawk turnovers in the first 20 minutes.

The Miners clawed back at the start of the second half and cut the Redhawk lead to two at 42-40 following a Hedgepeth three-pointer with 18:04 to go.  However, the Miners went into a cold stretch from the floor – making just one of eight shots in that period – and Southeast pushed its lead into double figures for the first time on a short jumper by Skyler Hogan with 12:23 left to play.

A floater by Hedgepeth and a three-point basket by Yahmir Muhammad (Rockford, IL/Auburn) moments later got the Miners back to within six midway through the second half, then at the 8:35 mark, Hedgepeth  scored on a driving layup to cut the Southeast advantage to three.  A minute later, Newt scored on a drive of his own to make it a one-point game.

The Miners had two chances to regain the lead following defensive stops, but turned the ball on both occasions.  After the second turnover, Mark Laros scored on a put-back to give Southeast a three-point lead, then Alex Caldwell drained a trey on the next Redhawk possession to double the lead.

With S&T still down by six with 4:29 to go, Hedgepeth cut the lead in half with a three-pointer out of the corner, then were able to get it down to three again on a lay-in by Romain Louiserre (La Ferte Alais, France/Fredrick Fays) with 2:12 remaining.  Following the Louiserre basket, Southeast turned the ball over and Louiserre made a pair of free throws with 1:24 on the clock to cut the lead to one.

Southeast was unable to get the ball inbounded following the free throws to give the ball back to S&T, but Sarajlic's three-point shot rimmed out.   The Miners got another chance to take the lead after McGlothan missed a jumper, the Miners took the lead when Sarajlic tipped in the Hedgepeth miss.

Hedgepeth finished with a game-high 28 points to lead the Miners, while Sarajlc was in double figures with 13 and Louiserre was as well with 11.  The Miners forced Southeast into 22 turnovers in the game and held the Redhawks to 40.6 percent from the field in the second half.

Brewer had 20 points to pace Southeast.

The Miners open their Great Lakes Valley Conference slate Saturday against Drury in Springfield, Mo.   Tip-off is at 3 p.m.