ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's men's basketball team came away victorious in an overtime slugfest Thursday night, as it outscored McKendree 14-9 in the extra period to come away with a 75-70 win over the Bearcats in a Great Lakes Valley Conference contest at Gibson Arena.
Heading into overtime tied at 61, the Miners (10-11, 6-8 GLVC) never trailed in the five extra minutes as they scored eight of the first 10 points to win a game it had trailed in for a better part of the evening.
The Miners got back-to-back baskets from
Alex Strating (Wassenaar, Netherlands/American School of the Hague) to open the overtime period, then Strating answered a Bryson Bultman basket with another lay-in before
Micah Johnson (Ankeny, IA/Centennial) drained a turnaround jumper along the baseline to extend the S&T lead to six with 2:03 remaining.
S&T maintained the advantage, even as McKendree was able to cut the lead to three following a three-point basket by Luke Hensler with 46 seconds to go.
Dylan Singleton (Lincoln, IL/Lincoln) made two free throws with 23 seconds left to push the lead back to five, then S&T forced two missed shots down the stretch to complete the comeback win.
After the Miners held the lead in the early minutes of the contest, McKendree (11-7, 7-7 GLVC) took the lead at the 9:43 mark of the first half at 14-13 as part of a 10-0 run that gave it an eight-point advantage. The Bearcats would take a five-point lead to the locker room as the Miners shot just 32.4 percent from the field in the first half, then extended the margin to 11 in the first two minutes of the second half.
The Miners began clawing back into the game and finally evened the score at 40 following a driving layup by Singleton just past the midway point of the second half. McKendree would regain a six-point lead following three-point baskets by Aleksa Popovic and Hensler, but the Miners eventually overcame that deficit as well when Strating scored in the lane with 7:02 to go.
S&T would take its first lead of the second half on its next possession as
Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest) – who was held scoreless in the first half – scored on a lay-in and then drained a three to push the lead to five and cap a 10-0 run. The Bearcats never led again, but forced four ties down the stretch, the last at 61 when Hensler hit a three after Smith had put the Miners in the lead after going three-of-three at the free throw line with 21 seconds remaining.
Hensler's three came with eight seconds to go, then the Miners missed a shot at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.
S&T shot just 40.9 percent from the field for the game and made only four-of-24 from three-point range, but went five-of-nine during the overtime period while holding the Bearcats to just two-of-six over those five minutes.
Strating and Smith finished with 20 points apiece to lead the Miners, who also got 14 points from
Kaden Froebe (Lincoln, IL/Lincoln) and 10 from Singleton.
McKendree, playing in its second overtime contest in four days, was paced by Hensler's 17 points; he also made three of the Bearcats' 11 three-point baskets in the game. The Bearcats made just 37.1 percent of their shots from the field in the game.
Missouri S&T will host Missouri-St. Louis Saturday at 1 p.m. at Gibson Arena on Military Appreciation Day. All military members, active or retired, and their immediate families will be admitted to Saturday's game free of charge.
