ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's men's basketball team will step away from the Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule for a night before returning to league play this week, as the Miners will host Baptist Bible in a non-conference game Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at Gibson Arena.

The Miners will get back into the GLVC slate Saturday as they continue their six-game homestand with a matchup against Maryville that will get underway at 3 p.m.

S&T returned to the floor after a 12-day break in the schedule last week and belted Quincy 87-67 in its GLVC opener last Thursday, but couldn't overtake Illinois Springfield in the second half Saturday as it dropped an 83-75 decision to the Prairie Stars to fall to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in conference play.

Lovell Williams (Rogers, MN/Maple Grove) recorded 21 points in the loss on Saturday to lead the Miners – who had four players in double figures – and leads the team in scoring with an average of 15.8 points per game.  Williams currently ranks seventh in the GLVC in scoring and is second in the league in assists with 32, while also ranking among the top 10 in field goal percentage, steals and blocked shots.

The Miners have two others in double figures in Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest), who is scoring 13.7 points per game with a team-high 12 three-point baskets and Ikenna Okeke (Bolingbrook, IL/Romeoville), who is averaging 12.3 points a game and is second to Williams in rebounding with 5.5 per contest.  Andrew Young (Ballwin, MO/Marquette), meanwhile, is second in the GLVC with 10 blocked shots and ranks sixth in steals with 12.

ABOUT BAPTIST BIBLE: The Patriots, who are playing Tuesday's game as an exhibition contest, are 3-6 on the season and lost their most recent contest 88-78 to Fort Lauderdale.  They have averaged 90.5 points per game on the season and have cleared the 100-point mark twice thus far, including scoring 118 in a win over Champion Christian last month.

Jacques Thomas leads the Patriots with an average of 21.9 points per game, while Nick Coble is scoring 14.2 per contest and Eli'Jah Smith is at 13.3 per game.  Smith also leads Baptist Bible with his average of 6.9 boards per outing, while Juliyen Johnson has a team-leading 26 assists.

ABOUT MARYVILLE:  The Saints opened their GLVC schedule last week with a pair of losses, falling to Illinois Springfield and Quincy, the latter loss coming as the Hawks made a late run to overtake them in a 71-66 defeat.  Maryville comes into play this week with a 3-3 overall record and will not play until it faces S&T on Saturday.

Dewayne Vass leads three Saints averaging in double figures with an average of 14.7 points per game and is shooting 64.9 percent from the field, the second-best mark in the GLVC following play on Saturday.  Luke Williams is averaging 13.2 points per contest and Noah Courtney is scoring 13 per game. Tutu Chisholm leads the Saints on the boards with an average of 6.6 per game, while Ari Jackson is shooting 42.4 percent from three-point range with 14 treys on the season.