ST. CHARLES, Mo. – For the better part of 30 minutes of Friday's men's basketball game, Missouri S&T was able to answer Lindenwood's quick scoring spurts with runs of its own.  However, the Miners could not overcome a 13-0 run in the second half that allowed Lindenwood to pull away for an 89-70 win in the season and Great Lakes Valley Conference opener for both teams at Hyland Arena.

The Miners trailed 63-60 with 10:34 left to play and 67-61 with under nine minutes remaining, but a four-point sequence at the free throw line sparked the decisive run for the Lions.

TJ Crockett – who led all scorers in the game with 31 points – made two free throws at the 8:31 mark to extend Lindenwood's lead to 69-61.  On the second free throw, the Miners were called for a foul that gave the Lions two more opportunities at the line, which Romelo Burrell converted to make it a 10-point game.

S&T's next three possessions ended with two turnovers and a missed shot and the Lions scored eight points in the ensuing exchanges to push the lead out to the largest of the night at that point.

Friday's setback spoiled some solid debuts for the Miners.  Freshman Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest) scored 18 of his team-high 20 points in the opening half, while fellow freshman Kaden Froebe (Lincoln, IL/Lincoln) recorded 10 points, nine rebounds and six assists and Mahamadou Kaba-Camera (Conakry, Guinea/Balboa City (San Diego, CA)) posted a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds and added two blocked shots in his first game at S&T.

The Miners hung in the contest throughout the first half thanks to Smith, who gave the Miners an early 7-5 lead when he converted a conventional three-point play at the 17:25 mark of the first half.  The Lions regained the lead just over a minute later on an Anthony Christian three-pointer, only to see Smith knot the score on the Miners' next trip down the floor with a three-pointer of his own.

Smith drilled another three-pointer at the 12:09 mark to even the game at 21, but the Lions ran off a 10-0 run and never trailed again.

S&T chipped away at the lead, getting what was a 12-point margin down to seven by the intermission and then cutting it to three two minutes into the second half on a three-point play by Froebe as he scored the first seven points for the Miners after the break.

The Lions pushed the lead back to 10 over the next three minutes, but S&T drew to within three after Kevin Legardy (Las Vegas, NV/Canyon Springs) made one of two at the free throw line with 10:34 to go.  However, the Miners had already been held scoreless from the field for four minutes at that point and the drought continued for another four minutes as the Lions made their decisive run.

S&T had five players in double figures, as Mitch Fairless (St. Charles, MO/Duchesne) also had 11 points and Dawson Berry (Centralia, IL/Centralia) finished with 10, but the Miners were doomed by 19 turnovers in the game that led to 29 Lindenwood points.  S&T shot just 30.6 percent in the second half as well after hitting 50 percent of its attempts in the first half; it finished the contest at 37.5 percent.

Lindenwood, who ended the game at 44.6 percent from the field and 10-of-25 from three-point range, also got 19 points from Vijay Blackmon and a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds from Romelo Burrell, a transfer from Central Michigan.

Missouri S&T will return to action Sunday when it faces Maryville at 3 p.m. in St. Louis.  Sunday's game will be the season opener for the Saints.