SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Not since Feb. 22, 1977 – a date now approaching 44 years – had a Missouri S&T men's basketball team left this city with a victory over Drury.

But on Friday night, that long drought that had seen 20 consecutive S&T losses and 15 in a row in Great Lakes Valley Conference play to the Panthers on their home floor came to an end, as the Miners rode career-high scoring performances from three starters as they took control of the contest in the first half and held off a late Drury surge to beat the Panthers 96-87 at the O'Reilly Family Events Center.

The victory was the first of the season for the season for the Miners after five setbacks as they shot 50 percent from the floor and hit a season-high 12 three-point baskets along the way.

The Miners came out of the gate flying, taking the lead they would never relinquish on a Ryan Parker (Bloomington, IN/Ridgeview) three-pointer with 15:50 to play in the first half and increased it to as much as seven by the midway point of the half on a pair of free throws by Mahamadou Kaba-Camera (Conakry, Guinea/Balboa City (San Diego, CA)).  S&T made six of its first nine three-point attempts in the contest and Parker's second of the half capped a 7-0 run to give the Miners a 40-31 lead at the 4:40 mark.

S&T gained a double figure lead for the first time on a trey by Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest) with 1:41 remaining in the half, then finished the opening period with an 11-point advantage of 48-37 on Chima Oduocha's (Hoffman Estates, IL/Conant) put-back at the buzzer.

The Miners would use a 10-4 burst early in the second half to extend their lead to 65-47 following a three-pointer by Dawson Berry (Centralia, IL/Centralia) at the 12:41 mark of the half, but saw the Panthers claw back to within nine over the next two minutes.  However, back-to-back baskets by Smith and Kevin Legardy (Las Vegas, NV/Canyon Springs) extended the lead back to 14 a short time later and then the Miners had to hold off one more late Drury push.

Jason Montgomery hit a three-pointer with 4:09 remaining to bring the Panthers back to within six, but Smith hit two free throws on S&T's next possession to make it an eight-point game again.  Drury got the margin down to six again a short time later on a put-back by Victor Nwagbarachoa and still trailed by only seven after Myles Samuels made one of two at the line with 2:49 to go.

But on S&T's next trip down the floor, Legardy got the ball knocked away from him, but got to the loose ball and batted a pass to Parker under the basket and the redshirt freshman – making his first start – converted the layup to increase the margin to nine with 2:28 left.

Moments later, Smith answered two Malek Davis free throws with a short jumper in the lane, then Legardy all but sealed the win with a driving lay-up with 1:11 to go.

Smith tallied 30 points to lead the Miner scoring effort, while Parker and Legardy finished with 20 points apiece.  Berry added nine points on three baskets from three-point range and Kaba-Camera also finished with nine.

Parker also added 16 rebounds – the first S&T player in five seasons with at least 15 in a game – as part of his first career double-double as the Miners outrebounded the Panthers 44-33.

Conley Garrison had 25 points to lead the Panthers, who were playing for the first time this season after five postponements to begin the year.

Missouri S&T returns to action and will close its first semester of play in the process Sunday when it faces William Jewell in a 3 p.m. contest in Liberty, Mo.