SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Missouri S&T's men's basketball team struggled to find the mark offensively in the second half, allowing Drury to break free in a close contest and knock off the Miners 89-82 Saturday afternoon at the O'Reilly Family Events Center.
The Panthers (10-5, 3-4 Great Lakes Valley Conference) led 63-62 with 8:52 remaining, but held the Miners without a field goal for over five minutes and outscored S&T 12-1 over that stretch to take an insurmountable lead in the high scoring contest.
S&T (9-5, 3-4 GLVC) led for a majority of the first half, taking a seven-point lead at 22-15 after a lay-in by
Cameron Stovall (St. Louis, MO/Vashon) at the 11:10 mark. Drury came back over the next five minutes and tied the game at 28 on a layup by Luke Stubbs, before the teams traded baskets over the final six minutes – neither team led by more than five points during that stretch – before S&T took a 42-40 lead to the locker room.
The Miners made 51.6 percent of their shots over the first 20 minutes, but went cold at the start of the second half to allow Drury to retake the lead in the early stages. After the Panthers went up 44-42, S&T got two free throws from
Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest) and then a basket from
Andrew Young (Ballwin, MO/Marquette) on a fast break to go back in front before the lead began changing hands again.
Smith hit a three-pointer at the 13:56 mark to give the Miners a 51-50 lead, then after a lay-in by Adam Moore put Drury in the lead,
Kaden Froebe (Lincoln, IL/Lincoln) sunk his third three-pointer of the contest to put S&T up 54-52. The Miners got the lead again at 56-55 when
Ikenna Okeke (Bolingbrook, IL/Romeoville) hit two free throws with 12:15 left, but a three-pointer by Riley Naeger – who did not miss a shot all day – put the Panthers in the lead for good.
The Panthers' run that came a short time later included a stretch of 10 straight points, capped by a three-pointer by Quenton Shelton to give them a 12-point advantage with just over four minutes remaining.
Okeke had 23 points to lead three Miners in double figures, but S&T shot only 38.9 percent in the second half and finished the afternoon at 44.8 percent. Froebe added 13 points for the Miners and
Lovell Williams (Rogers, MN/Maple Grove) was also in double digits with 10.
Logan Applegate led all scorers with 27 points and Naeger, who was eight-of-eight from the field with two three-pointers and five-of-five at the free throw line, finished with 23 points off the bench.
The Miners will host Rockhurst Thursday in a 7:30 p.m. game at Gibson Arena.
