ROLLA, Mo. – After getting off to a fast start Saturday afternoon, Missouri S&T struggled to find the mark and to slow down Southern Indiana along the way, as the Screaming Eagles handed the Miners an 89-66 loss in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.

S&T opened the contest by scoring the first eight points on two Dulan Scott (Chicago, IL/Farragut Academy) three-pointers and a fast break lay-up by Kyle Bushman (Mount Vernon, MO/Mount Vernon) that prompted an early Southern Indiana timeout.   The Miners (5-15, 3-11 GLVC) would eventually extend their lead to nine on a lay-in by CJ Hedgepeth (Evansville, IN/Harrison) with nearly four minutes gone in the half, but USI (17-5, 9-5 GLVC) would start cutting into the margin a short time later.

The Screaming Eagles outscored S&T 14-4 over the next five minutes and took their first lead at 17-16 on a pair of free throws by Tyler Dancy.  Hedgepeth hit two free throws a few seconds later to give the advantage back to the Miners before Joe Laravie hit a three-pointer to put USI back in front.

Hedgepeth tied the score with a basket at the 9:41 mark, but Laravie drained another three 17 seconds later that started a 9-0 Screaming Eagle run that put them ahead for good.

USI would build its lead to as much as 12 in the first half and took a 39-31 advantage to the locker room, shooting 45.7 percent in the half and holding S&T to a 31.4 percent mark.  The Miners made five of their first eight shots in the game, but hit only six of their 27 attempts that followed before halftime.

The Screaming Eagles quickly pushed their lead into double figures early in the second half and kept the Miners at bay by hitting 56.3 percent of their field goal attempts over the final 20 minutes of play.

Scott scored a season-high 25 points to lead the Miners, who also got 12 points from Hedgepeth in the contest.  S&T made only 34.4 percent of their shots in the game and just six-of-24 from three-point range.

Emmanuel Little led five Screaming Eagles in double figures with 18 points.

Missouri S&T heads out on its final road trip of the season next week, beginning with a Thursday night game at Illinois Springfield.  Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.