ROLLA, Mo. – For the second straight game, shooting struggles plagued Missouri S&T's men's basketball team as it dropped an 81-72 Great Lakes Valley Conference decision to Quincy at Gibson Arena on Saturday evening.

The Miners (2-8) tried to make a furious rally late in the contest, cutting what was a 21-point Quincy lead into single digits in the final minute of play, but was unable to overcome the entire deficit after a night where they shot only 38.9 percent from the field.

S&T held the advantage in the early moments of the contest, scoring the first four points and taking a 6-3 lead following a jumper by Mitch Fairless (St. Charles, MO/Duchesne) at the 16:30 mark.  The Hawks (3-6), who scored their first 12 points of the game on four three-point baskets, tied the score on their next trip down the floor and took the lead for good a minute later on a trey by Tanner Stuckman.

The Miners trailed by five after Fairless hit another jumper with 5:39 remaining in the first half, but the Hawks outscored S&T 12-3 to close the period and took their largest lead of the half on a jumper by Viktor Kovacevic in the final minute of play.

Quincy shot 57.1 percent from the field in the first half and made seven three-pointers along the way; the Hawks entered the game ranked second in the GLVC with 11.3 treys made per game.

After Ryan Parker (Bloomington, IN/Ridgeview) knocked down a three-point just over five minutes into the second half to bring the Miners to within 10, the Hawks ran off 11 of the next 12 points to extend their lead to 20 by the midway point of the half.  Most of the damage in the latter half of the run was done by Jamuarie Coakley, who scored the final six points in the spurt as part of his 21-point effort on the day.

Quincy held a 21-point lead with 5:42 remaining when the Miners made a late surge to draw closer; S&T outscored the Hawks 12-4 over a span of three minutes to get the margin down to 13 after back-to-back three-pointers by Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest).  With 54 seconds left, the Miners had cut the lead to nine following a basket by Kevin Legardy (Las Vegas, NV/Canyon Springs), but that would be as close as S&T would get.

Smith led the Miners with 23 points and connected on four of S&T's eight three-point shots, while Kaden Froebe (Lincoln, IL/Lincoln) was also in double figures with 12 points and added five assists and three steals.

Charles Callier had 23 points to lead four double figure scorers for the Hawks, who finished the contest at 53.6 percent from the field.

Missouri S&T returns to the floor Thursday when it faces 13^th-ranked Truman State in a 7:30 p.m. game in Kirksville, Mo.  The Bulldogs (8-1) routed Drury 74-53 Saturday afternoon in Springfield.