SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A game of runs Saturday afternoon went in favor of Southern Arkansas, as the Muleriders' late 9-2 spurt gave them an 83-75 win over Missouri S&T's men's basketball team at the Doubletree Classic at Drury University.

The Miners trailed by 12 with 7:43 to play, but got hot from three-point range as they hit four over the next 4:28 to get to within three.  Moments after CJ Hedgepeth (Evansville, IN/Harrison) hit the fourth of those three-point shots, Dawson Berry (Centralia, IL/Centralia) ran down a long rebound at midcourt and turned it into a three-point play with 1:53 remaining to knot the score at 74.

However, SAU's Devonte Brooks – who had a game-high 25 points and 17 rebounds – hit a short jumper in the lane to put the Muleriders (3-4) back into the lead, then S&T turned the ball over after getting an offensive rebound that led to a Trent Ivy basket to extend the lead to four.

The Miners (1-4) put together one of their best halves of the season in the opening 20 minutes, hitting six of their first nine shots from the floor to take a 10-point lead in the early going.  Nathan Elmer's (Nixa, MO/Nixa) three-point basket at the 12:12 mark gave S&T a 21-11 lead and the Miners would retain the advantage throughout the balance of the first half. 

S&T led by nine following a basket by Kyle Bushman (Mount Vernon, MO/Mount Vernon) in the waning seconds of the half, but Aaron Lucas knocked down a three-pointer right before the period ended to trim the lead to six and seemingly spark the Muleriders, as they opened the second half by outscoring the Miners 18-3 -- taking the lead at 44-43 on Lucas' lay-in a little over three minutes into the half.

The Miners cut that lead down to three after back-to-back three-pointers by Dulan Scott (Chicago, IL/Farragut Academy) and Hedgepeth, but SAU pushed the lead out to double figures before the Miners made their push that led to the tied score with under two minutes to go.

Fairless led four Miners in double figures with a career-high 20 points, while Chima Oduocha (Hoffman Estates, IL/Conant) also matched his career best with 16 points.  Hedgepeth and Scott finished with a dozen points apiece as the Miners shot a season-best 44.6 percent from the field and connected 12 times from three-point range.

S&T was hurt, however, by poor free throw shooting in the second half where it went 14-of-23, 11 second half turnovers and being outrebounded by a 48-30 margin.

Southern Arkansas finished at 46.3 percent from the field in the second half and got 20 points from Lucas to compliment Brooks' 25.

Missouri S&T will open its Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule Tuesday when it hosts Maryville in a 7:30 p.m. contest at Gibson Arena.