ROLLA, Mo. – Despite shooting 53.3 percent in the second half, Missouri S&T's men's basketball team was unable to overcome a sluggish first half Saturday afternoon as it dropped an 86-72 Great Lakes Valley Conference decision to Southwest Baptist at Gibson Arena.
The Miners trailed by 14 at halftime after making only 10 of their 29 shots from the field over the first 20 minutes, while the Bearcats came out of the gate in their season opener by shooting 58.1 percent in the first half. S&T made a couple of runs at SBU in the second half, but were unable to get any closer than…
Thanks in large part to Brady Smith, who scored a game-high 26 points, the Bearcats got the jump on the Miners in the early going. Smith scored eight of SBU's first nine points and his conventional three-point play at the 17:16 mark of the first half broke a four-all tie, giving the Bearcats a lead they would never relinquish.
SBU built its lead to 12 before eight minutes had elapsed and led by as much as 15 in the first half following a basket by Tyler Williams with 6:16 to play in the half. The Miners started cutting into the margin and got it down to nine twice, but the Bearcats would take a 41-27 lead into the locker room as they controlled matters in the paint, outscoring S&T 28-8 inside during the first half.
The Bearcats continued to hold a double figure lead in the early minutes of the second half, but the Miners used an 8-0 run to get the difference down to six following a dunk by
Mahamadou Kaba-Camera (Conakry, Guinea/Balboa City (San Diego, CA)) with 14:53 to play.
Mitch Fairless (St. Charles, MO/Duchesne) answered a pair of Smith free throws with a dunk, but was assessed a technical foul after the basket and that led to a 7-0 SBU run that pushed the lead back to 13 over the next two minutes.
Behind the shooting of
Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest) and
Kevin Legardy (Las Vegas, NV/Canyon Springs), the Miners again made a run at the Bearcats and closed the margin to eight with 5:27 remaining after Smith canned a three-pointer on the break. SBU was able to slow that run down, but the Miners closed to within five on a basket by Fairless with 1:49 to go.
However, the Bearcats got a three-point play from Juan Morales on their next trip down the floor and got the margin back over the double figure mark over the balance of the contest by scoring the final nine points.
Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest) led the Miners with a career-high 23 points on the afternoon, while Legardy finished with 16 and Fairless added 15. The Miners' second half showing from the floor improved their field goal percentage to 44.1 percent by game's end and they also connected seven times from three-point range.
Quinn Nelson added 18 points for the Bearcats, who shot 51.7 percent from the field and outrebounded the Miners 38-30.
Missouri S&T is scheduled to return to action Friday when it faces Drury in a 7:45 p.m. contest in Springfield, Mo.
