ROLLA, Mo. – Following nearly a week away from the floor, Missouri S&T's men's basketball team will return to action Saturday when it faces Southwest Baptist in a 3 p.m. contest in Bolivar, Mo.

The Miners, who have not played since Sunday's exhibition game at Missouri State, are coming off a win in their most recent Great Lakes Valley Conference game when they held off William Jewell for a 68-66 victory last Saturday at Gibson Arena.  S&T took the lead for good with a late 6-0 run after the Cardinals had taken the lead, then held on after William Jewell missed three shots in the final seconds.

The win improved the Miners' record to 3-9 on the year as they have moved into the second half of their schedule and they do with three players still averaging in double figures for the year. Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest) leads the way with his average of 17.3 points per contest and is tied for the GLVC lead with 33 three-point baskets; he is shooting 37.9 percent from beyond the arc.

Kevin Legardy (Las Vegas, NV/Canyon Springs) is averaging 12.8 points per game and has a team-high 6.3 rebounds per outing, while Mitch Fairless (St. Charles, MO/Duchesne) upped his seasonal scoring mark to 12.6 per game after scoring 20 in the win over William Jewell.

Kaden Froebe (Lincoln, IL/Lincoln), who is just short of double figures at 9.7 points per game, continues to lead the GLVC in steals with 32 and also has a team-high 49 assists that has him ranked among the conference leaders.  Mahamadou Kaba-Camera (Conakry, Guinea/Balboa City (San Diego, CA)) also ranks atop the GLVC in blocked shots with 14 on the season.

ABOUT SOUTHWEST BAPTIST:  The Bearcats remain near the top of the GLVC standings as they head into a Thursday game at Drury with a 7-2 record on the season.  SBU rebounded from a loss to Southern Indiana -- one that broke a five-game winning streak -- to knock off Rockhurst 72-59 in Kansas City on Thursday as it held the Hawks to 34.5 percent shooting.

Brady Smith, a native of nearby Licking, Mo., led SBU with 19 points and is the Bearcats' scoring leader in the season with an average of 17.2 points per game that ranks ninth in the GLVC.  Smith also leads SBU with 5.6 rebounds per game and 11 steals, while Mitch Ganote has a team-high 42 assists and is the Bearcats' third-leading scorer with average of 11.3 points per contest.

Quinn Nelson is the team's second-leading scorer at 16 points per contest and is the top three-point shooter for SBU, as he has a team-high 21 treys -- no other Bearcat has more than nine -- and is hitting them at a clip of 39.6 percent.  Nelson is also second in the GLVC at the free throw line where he has made 93.5 perecnt of his attempts.

SBU won the earlier meeting with Missouri S&T 86-72 on Dec. 12 behind Smith's 26 points.  Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest) led the Miners with 23.