ROLLA, Mo. – After Rockhurst made up most of a 17-point deficit midway through the second half, Missouri S&T's men's basketball team answered back with a game-deciding 14-0 run and went on to close out a 62-43 win over the Hawks Saturday afternoon at Gibson Arena.
The Hawks were within three at 44-41 following a three-point basket by Aidan Cleary with 9:03 to go, but the Miners put together a run of their own that lasted for well over four minutes that led to S&T outscoring Rockhurst 18-2 to finish the game and get back to the .500 mark on the season at 9-9. The win also improved the Miners to 5-6 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
Both teams came out of the gate slowly and the Hawks (7-10, 2-5 GLVC) took a couple of leads early in the game. Rockhurst led 5-2 after Maxim Romanov – one of three Hawk starters that did not play in the first meeting between the teams on Jan. 2 – hit a three-point basket. The Miners rattled off the next seven points to take the lead for good, moving in front on an
Alex Strating (Wassenaar, Netherlands/American School of the Hague) lay-up at the 14:15 mark.
S&T built its lead into double figures with just under six minutes to go in the half on a steal and lay-up by
Kaden Froebe (Lincoln, IL/Lincoln) and eventually it grew to 13 right before halftime when
Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest) scored on a backdoor lay-up off an assist from
Dylan Singleton (Lincoln, IL/Lincoln).
The Miners' lead reached 17 on two occasions in the second half, the last at 39-22 following a lay-in by Singleton with just under four minutes gone, but the Hawks started chipping away at the advantage over the next seven minutes. Rockhurst outscored S&T 19-5 over that span and following the second of back-to-back three-pointers by Cleary, the Hawks had drawn to within three.
S&T was able to stop the bleeding after the second three-pointer, getting two free throws from Strating to start the run. The run essentially started at the foul line, as Singleton and
Micah Johnson (Ankeny, IA/Centennial) hit two free throws apiece to extend the advantage to nine, then Johnson made a steal and led Froebe for a dunk to put the lead back into double figures again for good.
The Miners, who held Rockhurst to 32.2 percent shooting in their 82-62 win in Kansas City earlier this month, allowed the Hawks to make just 28.3 percent of their attempts Saturday which was the lowest mark by Miner opponent this season. Rockhurst also made just three of its 22 three-point attempts in the game.
S&T, who finished at 43.1 percent from the field on the day, got a game-high 24 points from Smith as well as 14 from Strating and 10 from Froebe, who recorded his second double-double this season and third of his career as he added 10 rebounds. Singleton had a career-high nine assists Saturday as S&T had assists on 15 of its 22 field goals.
Nick Volz was the lone Hawk in double figures with 15 points.
Missouri S&T will be idle until next Saturday, when it will open a three-game stretch on the road by taking on Drury in a 3 p.m. game in Springfield, Mo.
