ROLLA, Mo. – A slow start to the game Saturday afternoon proved costly for Missouri S&T's men's basketball team as it fell below the .500 mark in Great Lakes Valley Conference play following a 77-60 loss to William Jewell at Gibson Arena.
The Miners, who came into the game as the highest scoring team in the GLVC with an average of 83.6 points per game, struggled to find any offensive rhythm for much of the first half as they didn't reach double figures in the scoring column until there were just under six minutes to play in the half.
S&T (12-9, 6-7 GLVC) got the initial basket of a slow-starting contest which came from
Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest) a little over 90 seconds into play, while the Cardinals (11-10, 8-5 GLVC) got their first points at the 16:03 mark on a lay-in by Heri Tshiyoyo. The Miners didn't score again, however, until Smith got a layup with 13:20 remaining to halt an 11-0 Cardinal run, but Jewell rattled off another 14 straight points after Smith's second basket and never looked back.
The Miners shot only 21.2 percent from the field in the opening half, while the Cardinals – who led by as much as 27 prior to the intermission and by 23 at the half – connected on 55.2 percent of their first half attempts.
The second half saw the Miners shoot 51.5 percent during that span as they outscored Jewell 41-35, but only got the margin as close as 16.
Andrew Young (Ballwin, MO/Marquette) was the lone Miner in double figures as he finished with 19 points, his third-best offensive performance of the season.
Alex Benassi (Lee's Summit, MO/Lee's Summit) finished with nine points off the bench for S&T, who finished the game with a 36.4 percent shooting mark.
Jewell's Kobe McKinley led all scorers in the contest with a career-high 30 points, while Tshiyoyo added 13.
Missouri S&T continues its four-game homestand Thursday when it hosts Drury at 7:30 p.m. at Gibson Arena.
