ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's men's basketball team dominated matters in the paint Saturday afternoon as it defeated Principia 89-62 in its return to action from the holiday break at Gibson Arena.
The Miners, who improved to 8-2 with the win, scored 54 of their 89 points in the paint and did a number on the Panthers (2-9) on the other end of the floor as well, as Principia was just one-of-16 on their field goal attempts inside the three-point line over the first 20 minutes of play.
The three-point basket allowed the Panthers to keep pace with S&T in the early minutes, including a trey by Kingsley Cockburn that gave Principia a 12-10 lead at the 13:49 mark. That would turn out to be the only lead it would enjoy and it was a short-lived one at that, as
Ikenna Okeke (Bolingbrook, IL/Romeoville) answered with a three-pointer 12 seconds later to put S&T in front for good.
S&T led by only three midway through the first half, but used a 21-4 surge that started with a 9-0 run and ended with a 10-0 run to take a 20-point lead late in the half. All of the scoring in the latter run came from either
Alex Benassi (Lee's Summit, MO/Lee's Summit), who scored six points during that span or
Manu Musemena (Liege, Belgium/), who tallied the other four.
The Miner lead would grow to 25 by the intermission, as S&T connected on 53.2 percent of its shots in the half to Principia's 22.2 percent mark. Five of Principia's first half field goals came from beyond the arc.
The lead never fell below 20 points in the second half as the Miners shot 52.9 percent after the intermission to finish the day at 53 percent overall. Five players finished in double figures for the Miners, led by Okeke and
Andrew Young (Ballwin, MO/Marquette) with 14 points apiece. Benassi and
Cameron Stovall (St. Louis, MO/Vashon) had 12 points apiece, while
Kaden Froebe (Lincoln, IL/Lincoln) was the fifth double figure scorer with 11 points.
S&T also had a 44-28 advantage on the boards and forced 13 turnovers that resulted in 18 points, helping it get the win to match its best start to a season in nine years.
AJ Byrd had a game-high 16 points to lead Principia in the scoring column.
Missouri S&T will return to Great Lakes Valley Conference play for the duration of the regular season Wednesday when it takes on Lewis in Romeoville, Ill. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.
