BOLIVAR, Mo. – Southwest Baptist's first half shooting performance put Missouri S&T's men's basketball team into a hole it was unable to get out of Saturday afternoon, as the Bearcats posted an 88-61 Great Lakes Valley Conference victory over the Miners at the Meyer Sports Center.

SBU (9-2) shot 60 percent from the field in the first half and made seven of its season-high 14 three-point baskets over the first 20 minutes as it sent the Miners to 3-10 on the campaign.  Much of that damage was done during the course of a 23-5 run to end the first half after S&T had a scoring spurt of its own.

The Bearcats jumped on the Miners early as they raced out to an 8-2 lead to start the contest, but the Miners were able to draw to within three on a Kaden Froebe (Lincoln, IL/Lincoln) three-point basket at the 15:55 mark.  SBU then extended its lead into double figures by the 11-minute mark and still held an eight-point lead after Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest) made two free throws with 6:36 to play to cap a 9-2 Miner spurt.

However, the Bearcats got rolling from the field and starting with a pair of Tyler Williams three-point baskets, ran off 16 straight points to break the contest open and eventually took a 53-27 lead to halftime.

Williams, who had a game-high 24 points to lead SBU, did much of the damage during the half as he made all six of his shots from the floor to score 15 points in the half.  The Bearcats closed the game with a 50 percent mark from the field and they made 14-of 25 from three-point land.

The Miners, meanwhile, struggled to get anything going on a consistent basis on the offensive end, making just 32.1 percent of their shots in the game and hitting just four shots from three-point range.

Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest) was the only S&T player in double figures with 11 points, while Mahamadou Kaba-Camera (Conakry, Guinea/Balboa City (San Diego, CA)) and Kaden Froebe (Lincoln, IL/Lincoln) finished with nine points apiece; Froebe also made four steals in the game.  S&T also got eight points apiece off the bench from Micah Johnson (Ankeny, IA/Centennial) and Kyle Bushman (Mount Vernon, MO/Mount Vernon).

Missouri S&T returns home for its next three scheduled games, beginning with Thursday's clash with Drury that is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. at Gibson Arena.  The Miners will also face Maryville and Lindenwood in their upcoming homestand.