ROLLA, Mo. – After a tough loss in its season opener Wednesday night, Missouri S&T's men's basketball team heads to the road for the first time this weekend as it will take on Missouri Western Sunday afternoon in St. Joseph, Mo.  Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.

Following Sunday's game, the Miners will have a quick turnaround as they will return home for a Tuesday night contest against Lindenwood-Belleville at Gibson Arena.  That game will get underway at 7:30 p.m., following the S&T women's game against the Lynx that evening.

The Miners dropped a 66-55 decision Wednesday in their home and season opener to Lincoln, as they shot just 31.3 percent from the field and was unable to complete a comeback from a 21-point second half deficit.  S&T cut that lead down to two on two occasions and was down by three with just over three minutes to play, but saw that rally effort come up short.

Chima Oduocha (Hoffman Estates, IL/Conant) had 16 points and nine rebounds in his Miner debut, while Yahmir Muhammad (Rockford, IL/Auburn) also finished with 16 points on the night and CJ Hedgepeth (Evansville, IN/Harrison) added 13.  The Miners committed just eight turnovers in the game and had only one in the second half.

Muhammad, who made three of S&T's eight three-point baskets, had a team-high four assists as well.

While it is early in the season, the Miners already rank in the top 10 in NCAA Division II in a pair of categories.  S&T held Lincoln to 3-of-16 shooting from three-point range; the 18.8 percent mark on the defensive end is the sixth-best in the country.  The Miners also hold an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.63 on the year, which currently ranks eighth-best in the Division II ranks.

ABOUT MISSOURI WESTERN: The Griffons will be playing their fifth game of the season Sunday and bring a 1-3 mark into the contest.  After dropping both games in the Small College Hall of Fame Classic during the first weekend in November, Western got its first win last Friday by downing MSU Moorhead 70-55 before losing the following day to Minnesota Crookston.

Guard Tyrell Carroll leads the Griffons with an average of 16.8 points per game in the early going and is shooting 54.7 percent from the field with a team-high 23 assists.  Will Eames is the only other player in double figures with an average of 13 points per contest and led the Griffons with 18 points in Friday's win.  Eames is also Western's top rebounder with 6.8 per game.

As a team, the Griffons -- who will be playing their first game on their home floor Sunday after four games at the St. Joseph Civic Arena -- have shot 42.6 percent from the field and have made 33 three-point baskets the first four contests.  Opposing teams have made nearly 47 percent of their field goal attempts and 44.6 percent from long range against Western this season.

ABOUT LINDENWOOD-BELLEVILLE: The Lynx are 0-2 on the young season with losses to Lincoln College and Campbellsville; they will host Bethel on Saturday prior to facing off with the Miners on Tuesday evening.

Through those first two games, Lindenwood-Belleville is led in the scoring department by Christian McCoy with an average of 16.5 points per contest.  McCoy, who is also his team's top rebounder with 17 per game and has a team-high 10 assists, opened the year with an 18-point performance against Lincoln and then added 15 in the loss to Campbellsville.  JC Moll is also scoring in double figures at 10 points per contest and has six of Lindenwood-Belleville's 14 three-point baskets this season.

The Lynx have shot just 33.1 percent from the field in the first two games, but have held their opponents to a 17.9 percent mark from three-point land and have forced opposing teams into 38 turnovers.