ROLLA, Mo. – After going through a cold stretch that saw its double-figure lead evaporate, Missouri S&T's men's basketball team hit some clutch baskets down the stretch to pull out a 76-66 win Monday afternoon over Culver-Stockton at Gibson Arena.

The Miners held a 59-43 lead after Kaden Froebe (Lincoln, IL/Lincoln) scored on a fast break layup with 11:28 to play, but did not make a field goal over the next eight minutes and the Wildcats (10-3) came back to tie the score at the 4:10 mark on a three-pointer by Seth Larson.

S&T missed nine straight shots from the field during that stretch and missed a 10^th straight after the Wildcats tied the score, but Dylan Singleton (Lincoln, IL/Lincoln) made a steal at the other end on Culver-Stockton's next possession.  With the shot clock running down, Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest) drained a 25-foot three-pointer to untie the score with 3:20 remaining.

Culver-Stockton got back to within a point when Alonzo Ortiz-Traylor made two free throws with 2:45 to go, but Ryan Parker (Bloomington, IN/Bloomington South) knocked down another three for S&T 21 seconds later to extend the lead to four.  Then after Keashon Petty missed two free throws for the Wildcats, Smith hit another three-pointer to push the lead out to seven with just under two minutes to play.

The Miners got a second chance basket by Dylan Singleton (Lincoln, IL/Lincoln) with 52 seconds left to make it a nine-point game, then finished it off at the free throw line as they won for the third straight time and reached the .500 mark for the first time this season at 5-5 heading into the holiday break.

S&T got out to a hot start Monday, taking a nine-point lead before the game was barely over eight minutes old and extending it to double figures for the first time on a Smith three-pointer with 8:45 to go in the first half.  The Miners would retain that double figure advantage – built on 50 percent shooting overall and a 7-of-13 mark from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes – for the remainder of the half.

The Miners extended the lead to as much as 19 on two occasions in the first half, but the Wildcats closed the period on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 10 at the break.  However, S&T kept the lead in double figures for the first 11 minutes of the second half, taking a lead of 15 on a driving layup by Singleton with 15:53 left and out to 16 following the Froebe basket with 11:28 remaining.

Culver-Stockton started chipping away at the margin, getting it under 10 for the first time since the first half on a lay-in by Jalen Blaize with 8:50 left as part of a 19-3 spurt that eventually saw it tie the game on the Larson three-point basket.

After hitting 50 percent of their first half shots, the Miners made only 34.4 percent after the break and finished the day at 42.2 percent, but S&T also held the Wildcats to a 34.3 percent mark on the day.  Culver-Stockton was able to rally back from long range, as it made 11-of-23 in the game from beyond the arc and all four of its second half treys during that eight-minute stretch.

Smith led all scorers in the game with 20 points, while Parker finished with 13 points and Singleton and Froebe added 11 points apiece.  The Miners also had an 18-rebound advantage in the contest – Froebe finished with 14 and Mahamadou Kaba-Camera (Conakry, Guinea/Balboa City (San Diego, CA)) pulled down a dozen – but turned the ball over 20 times as well.

Ortiz-Traylor led the Wildcats with 19 points and Blaize also finished in double figures with 14.

Missouri S&T will return to play on Jan. 2 when it resumes its Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule against Rockhurst in Kansas City, Mo.