SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – For the first time in four seasons, Missouri S&T's men's basketball team opened its season with a win as the Miners pulled out a thrilling 90-89 overtime victory Friday afternoon over Lake Superior State at the Greenstay Inn & Suites Tip-Off Classic at Drury University.
In a game that had 12 ties and 12 lead changes, the last lead change went to S&T when Ikenna Okeke made two free throws with 39 seconds remaining, then the Miners made two defensive stops down the stretch to preserve the win.
The contest was filled with runs, including one late in the first half to allow the Miners to take a 15-point lead to the locker room. S&T outscored the Lakers 14-5 to close out the first half as it shot 64.5 percent from the field and made seven-of-nine from three-point range during the opening 20 minutes.
But as the second half began, Lake Superior State got off to the fast start as it scored the first nine points of the half to quickly cut the Miner lead to six. Okeke hit two free throws at the 16:10 mark for S&T's first points of the half to pause the run, but the Lakers were eventually able to wipe out the lead when David Wren made two free throws with just under nine minutes to go.
Lake Superior State took its first lead of the second half a little over a minute later on a three-point basket by Xander Okerlund and eventually built that lead to four, but S&T answered back by outscoring the Lakers 13-3 over the next four minutes to go up by six. A short jumper in the lane by
Kaden Froebe (Lincoln, IL/Lincoln) put the Miners back into the lead, then a free throw by Okeke and back-to-back baskets by Lovell Williams – the second after a steal – made it a six-point game.
After Lake Superior State came out of a timeout and scored seven straight points to go back in front,
Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest) scored on a jumper to put the Miners up 80-79 with 1:36 to go. But with 48 seconds remaining, Caden Ebeling scored inside to even the game at 81, then had a chance to win it on the final possession of regulation time but missed the shot to send the game to overtime.
S&T got the initial basket in the extra period on a driving lay-in by Williams, but the game continued to stay close over the entirety of the five minutes. The Lakers regained the lead at 89-88 after Ebeling made the second of two free throws with 59 seconds to play, then Okeke got an offensive rebound of his own miss and drew the foul, leading to the go-ahead free throws.
Andy Soma missed a three-pointer with 26 seconds to go and the ball went out of bounds to S&T, but the Miners committed a turnover on the inbounds pass to give Lake Superior State a second chance. However, the S&T defense forced a 17-footer by Wren that was off the mark and
Micah Johnson (Ankeny, IA/Centennial) pulled down the rebound in a crowd to secure the win.
Okeke led four Miners in double figures with a career-high 24 points, while Williams netted 18 and
Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest) finished with 17. Froebe was the fourth Miner in double figures with 15 and he added 12 points to record his first double-double of the season.
S&T finished the game at 56.7 percent from the field and made seven three-pointers, all coming in the first half.
Lake Superior State, picked to finish third in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, was led by Ebeling with 22 points and Tyson Edmondson with 18; the Lakers made 12 three-point baskets in the contest.
Missouri S&T will take on Northwood Saturday in the second day of the event at 1 p.m.
