QUINCY, Ill. – For all of the high-scoring exploits Missouri S&T's men's basketball team has displayed throughout the 2022-23 season, it was its play on the defensive end that made the difference Saturday afternoon as the Miners picked up a road win in Great Lakes Valley Conference play with a 72-65 victory over Quincy.
The Miners, who improved to 12-7 overall and 6-5 in the GLVC with Saturday's win, held the Hawks (11-8, 7-4 GLVC) to 33.8 percent shooting overall and a four-of-24 day from three-point range as they won on the road for the third time in conference play.
S&T used a late first half run to take an 11-point lead at the intermission, then withstood a Quincy rally that saw the Hawks tie the score before making another run to take the lead for good.
Quincy used an 8-0 run to take a 23-21 lead following a three-pointer by Zion Richardson, but
Ikenna Okeke (Bolingbrook, IL/Romeoville) – who had been held scoreless for the first 12-plus minutes – got his first points of the contest when he knocked down a three on S&T's next trip down the floor to put the Miners back in front. That basket sparked a 10-0 run for the Miners that gave them a lead they would not surrender.
S&T led 40-29 at the half, but came out cold to start the second half and that allowed the Hawks to begin chipping away at the lead. Malik Hardmon hit two free throws at the 13:23 mark to cut the margin to two, but after S&T got the lead back to seven on two
Alex Benassi (Lee's Summit, MO/Lee's Summit) free throws and a
Kaden Froebe (Lincoln, IL/Lincoln) three-pointer, Quincy ran off seven straight points to knot the contest at 50.
Hardmon went to the free throw line with his team down by one at the 8:49 mark, but made just one of two to keep the game tied. On S&T's next possession, Okeke was fouled and made both free throws to start an 8-0 run that put the Miners back in front for good.
The Miners got a defensive stop after the made free throws, then after Okeke missed a shot inside,
Lovell Williams (Rogers, MN/Maple Grove) got the offensive rebound away from Isaiah Foster and found Benassi open on the wing to drill a three-pointer to extend the lead to five.
S&T would build the lead to as much as eight and the Hawks got no closer than four from that point, as the Miners closed out the game by going 10-of-14 at the free throw line over the final 2:38.
Williams led all scorers in the game with 19 points and added six assists, while Benassi finished with 13 and
Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest) – who made a key steal on a late Quincy possession to douse any comeback hopes – ended with 11. Okeke had nine rebounds for the Miners, who were outrebounded by a 41-36 margin. The Miners led for better than 36 minutes of the contest.
Hardmon had 17 points and Foster finished with 11 to lead the Hawks in the scoring department.
Missouri S&T will be back on the road Thursday to take on Rockhurst in a 7:30 p.m. contest at Mason-Halpin Field House. The Hawks were idle on Saturday.
