ROLLA, Mo. –
Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest) spent the first seven games of the season trying to find consistency with his long-range shot, but on Saturday afternoon at Gibson Arena, he was spot on as he connected on all five of his three-point attempts to help lead a balanced scoring attack in a 95-81 Great Lakes Valley Conference win over Maryville.
Smith came into the game having made just 30.8 percent of his three-point tries on the season, but went five-of-five from beyond the arc as the Miners hit a season-high 14 three-point baskets to move to 6-2 overall and 2-1 in the GLVC. Two of those treys came at a critical point in the second half with about eight minutes remaining, as after the Saints (3-4, 0-3 GLVC) had cut a 12-point S&T lead down to one at 71-70, he hit three-pointers on back-to-back trips down the floor to help the Miners break free from the Saints in the stretch run.
Maryville had one brief lead in the contest at 7-6 after Ari Jackson closed a 6-0 run with a lay-in at the 15:35 mark, but the Miners responded with a 7-0 run of their own that was capped on a free throw by
Kaden Froebe (Lincoln, IL/Lincoln). The Miners never trailed after that run, but the story for much of the afternoon was the Miners building a lead and the Saints cutting into it but never completely catching up on most of those occasions.
S&T led by six before Maryville outscored it 8-2 to draw even at 36, but a conventional three-point play and another tough shot made by
Cameron Stovall (St. Louis, MO/Vashon) gave the Miners a five-point lead again. The Saints would get to within three by halftime and to one early in the second half before the Miners went on an 11-0 run to take a 12-point lead.
That run was sparked by a three-pointer by
Ikenna Okeke (Bolingbrook, IL/Romeoville) and was capped when
Lovell Williams (Rogers, MN/Maple Grove) scored on three straight possessions to give the Miners a 59-47 lead. The S&T lead reached 13 after another lay-in by Williams at the 13:53 mark before the Saints started cutting into it.
A three-pointer by JT Morgan, followed by two free throws by Tutu Chisholm knocked the margin down to one with 8:55 remaining, then the Saints missed a chance to go in front when Davis Walker missed a short jumper after an S&T turnover. Moments later, Smith drained the first of his back-to-back threes that pushed the lead back to seven.
Smith would add two free throws to continue the run, that concluded when Okeke converted a three-point play for the Miners' second 11-0 run of the contest. Maryville could only get as close as seven down the stretch and the S&T lead was in double figures over the final three minutes of play.
Smith and Okeke finished with 21 points apiece – the second straight game where both players eclipsed the 20-point mark – while Williams had 17 points, Stovall a career-high 15 and Froebe finished with 15. The Miners also shot a season-best 57.1 percent and went 14-of-21 from beyond the arc.
Maryville shot 47.8 percent on the afternoon but made only two-of-16 from three-point range, as it was led by Morgan with 19 points and Dewayne Vass with 18.
Missouri S&T will be idle until Dec. 18 when it faces Health Sciences & Pharmacy in a non-conference game at 11 a.m., on Education Day at Gibson Arena.
