ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T made a furious comeback effort from a 22-point second half deficit in its season opener Friday afternoon, but came up just short as Trevecca Nazarene came away with a 79-72 win at Gibson Arena.

S&T trailed 70-48 with 8:23 remaining in the contest, then outscored the Trojans – who were also opening their season Friday – 19-2 over the next 6:18 to get to within five with 2:05 to play.  However, the Miners missed three shots that could have brought them to within one possession on their next two trips down the floor and the Trojans were able to secure the victory at the free throw line.

The Miners struggled with their shooting for much of the afternoon, as they made just 38.8 percent of their shots overall and just seven-of-28 from three-point range.  Those struggles allowed the Trojans to take the lead for good just over five minutes into the contest and played a big part in TNU's ability to build the 22-point advantage in the second half.

S&T led 7-6 following a put-back by Ryan Parker (Bloomington, IN/Bloomington South) at the 15:18 mark of the first half, but a dunk by Brenden Newton on Trevecca's next possession put the visitors into the lead.  Trevecca would build its lead to as much as seven in the opening half and after S&T got the margin down to two after a three-point play by Kaden Froebe (Lincoln, IL/Lincoln), got a three-pointer in the final seconds of the half from Miguel Williams to take a 42-37 lead to the locker room.

Julien Smith's (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest) pull-up jumper early in the second half pulled S&T to within four at 44-40, but the Miners scored only four points over the next nine minutes as the Trojans built their advantage.  Leading by 11, Trevecca went on a 13-2 run to take its largest lead after a lay-in by Newton.

S&T began climbing back into the contest starting with a three-pointer by Smith at the 8:14 mark of the second half, which sparked a quick 7-0 burst before the Trojans got a basket from CJ Penha.  But the Miners proceeded to rattle off another 12-0 run following that interruption, which included a three-pointer by Micah Johnson (Ankeny, IA/Centennial), a four-point play as Smith was fouled while hitting a three-pointer and made the subsequent free throw and two more baskets by the sophomore guard as the Miners got to within five with just over two minutes to go.

However, S&T missed three straight three-point attempts and the Trojans were able to hold on the final minute of play.

Parker led the Miners with 16 points, while Smith added 15 and Alex Strating (Wassenaar, Netherlands/American School of the Hague) had 13 in his S&T debut.

Penha, a transfer from Taylor University who had scored 20 or more points in Trevecca's final two exhibition contests, led all scorers with 25 points.

Missouri S&T will face Bradley in an exhibition game Tuesday in Peoria, Ill., with the tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m.