ST. LOUIS, Mo. – For the third year in a row, Missouri S&T fell behind by a double-figure margin at Missouri-St. Louis, but wasn't able to overcome the deficit this time around as it dropped an 82-65 Great Lakes Valley Conference decision to the Tritons Saturday afternoon at the Mark Twain Building.

The Miners (2-20, 0-14 GLVC) trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half, but had that margin cut to six in the first six minutes of the second half.  However, UMSL (12-11, 7-7 GLVC) used a 9-0 run – with a key five-point swing included early in that spurt – to grab control and were able to keep the Miners at bay down the stretch.

S&T scored the first four points of the contest and led 6-5 following two Romain Louiserre (La Ferte Alais, France/Fredrick Fays) free throws just under two minutes into the contest.  But following a three-pointer by Johnathan Matthews when UMSL came back down the floor, the Miners never again held the lead in the game.

The Tritons didn't have any big runs in the first half until they ran off eight straight just past the midway point to take their 15-point lead.  S&T, who hit only 33.3 percent of its shots in the first half and just one-of-12 from three-point land, had a 5-0 run to close the half, drawing to within nine at the intermission when Allante Pickens (Chicago, IL/Curie) hit the Miners' lone three of the half.

After falling behind by 13 early in the second half, the Miners used a 7-2 spurt to draw to within six following a lay-in by Dulan Scott (Chicago, IL/Farragut Academy) at the 14:06 mark.  Pickens then made a steal on the Tritons' next possession, but Scott was called for an offensive foul while trying to drive to the basket to prevent S&T from getting closer.

Elijah Watson hit a jumper in the lane to extend the UMSL lead to eight, then Sebastian Ferenc (Zgierz, Poland/) missed a shot near the basket and the Tritons got the rebound and turned it into a five-point swing when Steven Davis hit a three-pointer in transition to extend the UMSL advantage to 11.

The Miners had the margin down to eight after a basket by Ferenc with 4:48 left, but Davis answered with another three to make it an 11-point game.  Starting with that three-pointer, UMSL scored on five of six possessions to put the game away.

Louiserre recorded his seventh double-double of the season with 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Ference ended up with 14 and Pickens with 11.  S&T shot 50 percent from the field in the second half to finish at 41.7 percent for the game, but UMSL connected on 69 percent of its second half shots and ended the day at 50.9 percent.

Davis had a game-high 21 points to lead four Tritons in double figures.

The Miners will play their final three home games of the season in a homestand that begins Thursday with a 7;30 p.m. game against Indianapolis at Billy Key Court.