KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After five straight games of shooting below 50 percent from the field, Missouri S&T's men's basketball team surpassed that threshold on Thursday night – but was unable to get a key defensive stop down the stretch as Rockhurst upended the Miners 93-90 in a Great Lakes Valley Conference contest at Mason-Halpin Field House.
The Hawks (11-8, 6-5 GLVC) scored on their final four possessions of the contest, including a three-point basket by Jake Auer with 1:04 remaining that broke an 88-all tie to give Rockhurst the lead for good. The Miners closed the gap to one following a put-back by
Ikenna Okeke (Bolingbrook, IL/Romeoville), but Rockhurst got a basket from Davit Kakushadze with 28 seconds to go to extend the lead back to three before the Miners missed a pair of potential game-tying three-point shots in the final 10 seconds.
The loss dropped the Miners to 12-8 overall and 6-6 in the GLVC before they begin a four-game homestand Saturday with a visit from William Jewell for a 3 p.m. game at Gibson Arena.
Both teams came out of the gate hot, particularly the Hawks from three-point range as they made their first four shots from beyond the arc to take an early eight-point lead. S&T answered with a 10-0 run and took its first lead at 18-16 after a steal by
Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest) led to a lay-in by Okeke at the other end.
The teams then went back-and-forth for the next several minutes as there were seven ties and four lead changes over the first 20 minutes, before Rockhurst took a 37-35 lead on a basket by Nick Arensburg. The Hawks kept the advantage for the remainder of the half, extending it back to eight at one point, before taking a five-point lead of 51-46 to the locker room.
But when the second half began, the Miners outscored the Hawks 16-4 over the first 4:27 to take a seven-point lead, then pushed that margin to nine just over two minutes later after
Kaden Froebe (Lincoln, IL/Lincoln) knocked down a pair of free throws. Rockhurst began to warm up from the field and began to chip away at the margin before the Miners got it back to eight following two
Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest) free throws at the nine-minute mark.
After the Smith free throws, the Hawks rattled off nine straight points – the last six of that run coming from Kakushadze – to regain the advantage at 78-77.
Lovell Williams (Rogers, MN/Maple Grove) hit a turnaround jumper just outside of the lane to give S&T the lead back, but Kakushadze scored again on the next trip down the floor to put Rockhurst back in front.
Rockhurst maintained that lead until Okeke made the second of two free throws with 3:05 left to knot the score at 84, then the teams exchanged scores down the stretch until the final sequence.
Okeke recorded a career-high 30 points and was among three Miners in double figures in the contest. Williams finished the night with 19 and Smith added 12 as S&T shot 54 percent from the field.
Kakushadze had a career night for the Hawks, scoring 12 of his team-high 19 points in the second half as five Rockhurst players finished in double figures. The Hawks also connected 12 times from three-point range.
