ROLLA, Mo. -- Missouri S&T's men's basketball team opens its final homestand at Gibson Arena this week, beginning with a week where it will welcome a perennial NCAA Division II power and a team that has returned to the national top 25.

The Miners will host Bellarmine to begin the four-game homestand Thursday in a 7:30 p.m. Great Lakes Valley Conference contest at Gibson Arena, then welcome 19th-ranked Indianapolis to town on Saturday for a 3 p.m. game.  Both of the Miner opponents this week are ranked among the top three in the GLVC's point ratings index that determines the conference tournament participants, where UIndy is currently atop the list and Bellarmine is tied for third.

Missouri S&T comes into Thursday's game looking to beat the Knights for the first time in GLVC play in the last scheduled matchup between the teams, as the Knights are reclassifying to NCAA Division I at the conclusion of the season.

S&T, 5-17 overall and 3-13 in the GLVC after losing a tough 67-63 decision Saturday at Lewis, is paced by senior forward Dulan Scott (Chicago, IL/Farragut Academy) with his average of 15.8 points per game.  Scott, who has scored 19 or more points in each of his last four games, enters the Bellarmine contest needing just 20 points to become the 25th player in S&T history to reach the 1,000-point mark for his career.

CJ Hedgepeth (Evansville, IN/Harrison) is also scoring 12.7 points per game and continues to lead the Miners with 64 assists and 35 steals, while Mitch Fairless (St. Charles, MO/Duchesne) is in double figures in the scoring column as well at 11 points per outing.

ABOUT BELLARMINE: The Knights, who were ranked atop the NABC/Division II poll nearly a month ago, enter Thursday's game having dropped six of their last nine games to bring records of 17-6 and 10-6 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference into Gibson Arena.  Bellarmine has been snakebit during this stretch, with three of the losses coming on three-pointers in the final five seconds of those games, but bounced back from one of those setback last Thursday to Truman State by hammering Quincy 90-66 on Saturday.

Alex Cook led a balanced scoring effort in that win with 14 points and leads the Knights in scoring on the season with an average of 16.6 points per game.  Cook, who is also the team's top rebounder with 6.3 per game, is shooting 54.5 percent from the field for a team that leads the GLVC in field goal percentage at 52.6 percent.

Ben Weyer is averaging 12.3 points per game with a team-high 47 three-point baskets, while Dylan Penn is scoring 12.2 per game and leads the Knights with 61 assists on the year.  CJ Fleming has also connected 44 times from beyond the arc and Pedro Bradshaw is shooting a team-best 57 percent from the floor.

ABOUT INDIANAPOLIS: The 19^th-ranked Greyhounds kept themselves in contention for the Great Lakes Valley Conference title and enhanced their NCAA Division II Tournament chances when they pulled out an 83-82 win Saturday over league leader Truman State, winning the game on Jimmy King's basket at the buzzer.  UIndy brings a 19-5 record and 11-5 conference mark into Thursday's game at Maryville.

Trevor Lakes leads five Greyhounds that are averaging in double figures with an average of 15.1 points per game and is one of the leaders in the GLVC in three-pointers with 77 on the season.  Lakes is also the team's leader in rebounding with six per game and has a team-high 13 blocked shots.

Marcus Latham is averaging 14.7 points per game and is shooting 42.7 percent from beyond the arc, while King is scoring 13.2 points per game and leads the GLVC with 144 assists.  Jordache Mavunga and Cory Miller are also scoring better than 10 points per game, with Miller connecting on 49 percent of his three-point shots on the year.