ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's men's basketball struggled to get untracked in the first half Thursday night as Bellarmine handed the Miners an 83-70 Great Lakes Valley Conference setback at Gibson Arena.

The Miners (5-18, 3-14 GLVC) shot just 30.3 percent over the first 20 minutes of play and made only three-of-18 from three-point range in a game in which they never held a lead.  The Knights (18-6, 11-6 GLVC), who were the top-ranked team in NCAA Division II just over a month ago, quickly built an 11-point lead in the first six minutes of play.

After Bellarmine had taken the 11-point lead in the early stages, the Miners got back-to-back baskets from Jordan Newt (San Francisco, CA/Malibu) and Mitch Fairless (St. Charles, MO/Duchesne) to cut the margin to seven.  S&T got within 10 one more time in the first half on a lay-in by Fairless at the 10:44 mark before the Knights ran off seven straight points to extend their lead to 16.

Bellarmine led 41-25 at the intermission, then opened up the margin about three minutes into the second half when it began a 13-0 run to take its largest lead of the contest at 62-34.

The Miners did shoot 66.7 percent in the second half and made seven-of-13 from beyond the arc as they eventually outscored the Knights 45-42 over the final 20 minutes.   The Miners had four players in double figures, with Newt, Fairless and Yahmir Muhammad (Rockford, IL/Auburn) all scoring 13 points apiece.

Dulan Scott (Chicago, IL/Farragut Academy) was the fourth Miner in double figures with 12 as he moved to within eight points of the 1,000-point mark for his career at S&T.

While the strong second half improved the Miners' shooting percentage for the night to 45.6 percent, Bellarmine – ranked fourth in Division II in field goal percentage -- finished the contest at 54.2 percent from the floor.  Ben Weyer led the Knights' balanced scoring effort with 13 points.

The Miners will host 19^th-ranked Indianapolis Saturday at 3 p.m. at Gibson Arena.