ROLLA, Mo. – The Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule will resume for Missouri S&T's men's basketball team this week as the Miners welcome Maryville and McKendree to Gibson Arena for the first action of the new calendar year.

The Miners, 8-4 overall and 2-2 in the GLVC, will face Maryville Thursday at 7:30 p.m. prior to McKendree making its visit to Gibson Arena for a 3 p.m. matchup on Saturday.  This week's action will begin a run of 16 consecutive conference games for the Miners to close out the regular season.

S&T got back on the winning track on its home floor Friday as it shot 52.6 percent from the field in downing Baptist Bible 102-77 in its first game after the NCAA winter break.  Andrew Young (Ballwin, MO/Marquette), making his first career start, led the Miners in the scoring column with 20 points and became the sixth different Miner to lead S&T in scoring in a game this season.

Young was joined in double figures by Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest) with 19 points, Ikenna Okeke (Bolingbrook, IL/Romeoville) with 12 and Kaden Froebe (Lincoln, IL/Lincoln) with 11.  Smith continues to lead the Miners in scoring with an average of 17 points per game which ranks second in the GLVC, while Okeke is fifth in the league in scoring with his mark of 15.1 points per contest.  The Miners have a third player in the top 10 in Lovell Williams (Rogers, MN/Maple Grove), who is scoring 14.9 points per game and is sixth in the conference with his 48 assists.

Kaden Froebe (Lincoln, IL/Lincoln) is also scoring in double figures with his average of 11.8 points per contest and is shooting a team-best 63.9 percent from the field.  Williams is shooting 58.5 percent from the floor and is ranked among the top 10 in the GLVC in steals along with Froebe – who is second with 23 – and Smith.

As a team, the Miners continue to lead the GLVC in scoring with an average of 86 points per game, good for 20^th in NCAA Division II and is second in the conference in field goal percentage at 50.1 percent.

ABOUT MARYVILLE: The Saints will bring a 10-3 overall record and 3-2 mark in GLVC play into Thursday's matchup after winning their first contest after the holiday break, an 82-67 victory over Eureka on Saturday behind 20 points from Ben Palacios.  Maryville led by five at halftime before outscoring Eureka 40-30 in the second half.

Palacios leads the Saints with an average of 13.8 points per game and is among four players averaging in double figures on the year.  Kelvin Swims, who added 17 points in the win on Saturday, is scoring 13 points per game and has a team-high 59 assists, while Ari Jackson is scoring 10.9 points per game and Dewayne Vass is averaging 10.1.  Vass has also dished out 53 assists and his 10 steals are second to Jackson's 13.

Jackson has made a team-high 32 three-point baskets and is shooting 41.6 percent from beyond the arc, while Palacios is shooting 41.9 percent from long range on his 26 three-pointers.  JT Morgan is the top rebounder for Maryville with 7.4 per game.

ABOUT McKENDREE: The Bearcats, like the Miners, resumed their schedule with a victory over Baptist Bible as they took a 77-54 decision on Monday evening.  Milos Vicentic led four Bearcats in double figures with 18 points to move McKendree to 6-5 on the season; the Bearcats are 2-2 in conference play heading into a game Thursday at Drury.

Eric Powell leads the Bearcats in scoring with an average of 15.1 points per game and has connected on a team-high 37 three-point baskets.  Powell is second in the GLVC in three-point percentage at 47.4 percent and has gone 20-of-34 (58.8 percent) from beyond the arc in McKendree's last five games.

Vicentic is averaging 14.9 points per contest and is shooting 56.7 percent from the field, while Bryson Bultman is scoring 13.5 per game and has dished out a team-high 64 assists; his average of 5.8 per game leads the GLVC.  Bultman is also the top rebounder for McKendree as he has pulled down 6.6 per game.  McKendree is the league leader in blocked shots with four per game, headed by Caleb Zurliene's 23.