LIBERTY, Mo. – Despite shooting 63 percent in the second half, Missouri S&T's men's basketball team was unable to overcome a 14-point deficit in the final minutes and lost for the first time in Great Lakes Valley Conference play Thursday by an 81-77 count at William Jewell.

The Miners (2-4, 1-1 GLVC) had a tough time corralling William Jewell's three-point shooting at key moments, as the Cardinals (3-4, 1-1 GLVC) connected 12 times from long range, including a pair of threes with the shot clock nearly expired in the second half to hold off S&T, who cut the margin down to four down the stretch.

S&T came out of the gate slowly, going the first 5:42 without a field goal as Jewell built an early eight-point lead.  The Miners erased that lead on a driving layup by Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest) at the 11:50 mark of the first half, but the Cardinals regained the lead moments later on a basket by Kobe McKinley that started an 8-0 run of their own and they never trailed again.

Thanks to the three-point shooting from McKinley and Mason Alexander, the Cardinals extended their advantage to 14 with 3:34 to play in the half, before S&T closed the half on a 7-0 run and moved to within seven on a jumper by Saheem Anthony (Brooklyn, NY/Westinghouse) in the final minute of the half.

However, the Miners were unable to cut the margin under five points for much of the second half.  With the score at 49-44, Alexander knocked down a three-pointer with the shot clock about to expire to up the lead to eight, then hit another three on the Cardinals' next trip down the floor to make it a nine-point game.

After S&T had closed the gap to six following a pull-up jumper by Smith, Jordan Jermain hit a three with under five seconds on the shot clock to push the lead to nine again.

Jewell led by 14 with 3:13 remaining after a dunk by Heri Tshiyoyo, but the Miners started chipping away at the margin.  Smith hit two free throws, then sank a three-pointer with 2:29 to go to make it a nine-point game.  Kevin Legardy (Las Vegas, NV/Canyon Springs) followed that by making a steal and a layup to trim the lead to seven.

The Cardinals got the lead back to 10 again before baskets by Legardy and Kaden Froebe (Lincoln, IL/Lincoln) cut it to six, then Legardy made one-of-two at the free throw line with 37 seconds left to make it a 77-72 game.  But on the inbounds pass, Jermain got loose down the floor and hit a layup to all but seal the contest.

Smith scored a season-high 26 points to lead the Miners, while Legardy also recorded a season-high 21; Froebe was the third Miner in double figures with 14.  S&T made only 31.3 percent of its shots in the first half, but finished the game at 45.8 percent after the strong second half from the floor.

Alexander led Jewell with 20 points as the Cardinals – who shot 46.4 percent for the game – also had three players in double figures.

Missouri S&T will face Southwest Baptist Saturday in Bolivar, Mo., with the tip-off set for 3 p.m.  The Bearcats improved to 2-0 in the GLVC and 6-1 overall with a 77-69 win at Rockhurst Thursday.