ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's men's basketball team returns to the floor after a 12-day break in play as it opens up a six-game homestand with a pair of contests this week at Gibson Arena.  The busy stretch of games prior to final examinations – where S&T will play four times in a span of 10 days – begins Thursday with its Great Lakes Valley Conference opener against Quincy at 7:30 p.m.

The Miners will continue their homestand Saturday with a 3 p.m. matchup against Illinois Springfield, before hosting Baptist Bible and Maryville next week before finals week on campus.

S&T has not seen the floor since Nov. 18, when it suffered its first loss of the season in an 87-62 setback at Central Missouri that dropped the Miners to 3-1 on the year.  The Miners shot only 32 percent from the field in the second half to UCM's 51.9 percent mark, but did have four players in double figures in the scoring column led by Lovell Williams (Rogers, MN/Maple Grove) and Micah Johnson (Ankeny, IA/Centennial) with 11 points apiece.

Williams leads the Miners in scoring heading into Thursday's game with an average of 14.3 points per game and also leads the way with 20 assists.  He is one of three Miners scoring in double figures for the season as he is joined by Ikenna Okeke (Bolingbrook, IL/Romeoville) at 13.8 points per game and Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest) with an average of 12.3 per game.  Okeke is also S&T's top rebounder with 7.5 per game, while Williams is hauling in 6.5 and Andrew Young (Ballwin, MO/Marquette) six per contest.

The Miners are shooting 44.5 from the field and enter the start of GLVC play leading the conference in field goal percentage defense at 38.2 percent.  S&T also ranks second in the league in rebounding margin at plus 6.8 per game and in blocked shots with 5.8 per game, with Williams and Young tied for second in that category with seven apiece.

ABOUT QUINCY: The Hawks are 3-3 heading into their conference opener and are coming off a 64-45 win Saturday over Judson behind 13 points from Orlando Thomas.  Prior to Saturday's win, Quincy had lost twice on a trip to Michigan and is 1-3 against NCAA Division II competition this season.

Zion Richardson is the lone Hawk averaging in double figures on the season with an average of 13.8 points per contest, but Nate Shockley is scoring just below that plateau at 9.8 per game and Isaiah Foster is scoring 9.2 per game.  Shockley and Foster are also tied for the team lead with 14 assists – Shockley has also made 14 steals – while Richardson has been the top rebounder with 4.8 per game.

ABOUT ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD:  The Prairie Stars opened the season with losses in three of their first four games, but have won three in a row heading into their conference opener Thursday at Maryville.  UIS won twice at Drury's Thanksgiving Classic, including a 19-point win over Missouri Southern as four players scored 18 points or better that was paced by Jacob Hanna's 21 points.

Four players are averaging in double figures for UIS, led by Jordan Rice with an average of 16.1 per game, a 51.9 percent mark from beyond the three-point line and a team-leading 32 assists.  Jack Weber is scoring 13 points per game while shooting 60 percent from the field, while Max Kunnert is averaging 12.4 points per game with a 47.6 percent shooting mark from long range and Hanna, who is scoring 11.7 per contest and pulling down a team-leading 5.9 rebounds per game.