ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Missouri S&T's men's basketball team was unable to slow down an aggressive Lewis team Wednesday night as it suffered a 96-74 defeat at the hands of the Flyers in a Great Lakes Valley Conference contest at Neil Carey Arena.
The Miners (8-3, 2-2 GLVC), who had their season-high four-game winning streak come to a halt, got out of the gate in good shape and held a 17-13 lead after
Cameron Stovall (St. Louis, MO/Vashon) drained a three-pointer at the 13:26 mark of the opening half. The Flyers (7-5, 3-1 GLVC) responded with a 9-0 run to take the lead, then after S&T got to within three at 31-28, outscored the Miners 13-5 to close the first half with a 44-33 lead.
S&T made just 38.5 percent of its shots in the first half to Lewis' 47.2 percent, with the Flyers having seven more made field goals in the first 20 minutes.
In the second half, the Miners had a tough time making any significant headway into the Flyer advantage. S&T got the lead down to nine twice in the early stages of the half, only to see Lewis push the lead back into double figures a short time later.
Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest) hit a three-pointer at the 12:16 mark to cut the margin to nine on a third occasion, but a quick 9-0 burst by the Flyers allowed them to start putting the game out of reach.
Smith had 20 points to lead S&T and
Ikenna Okeke (Bolingbrook, IL/Romeoville) – playing near his hometown – finished with 19 as the only Miners in double figures as they shot just 37.5 percent from the floor.
Lewis, who shot 60.5 percent in the second half and 54.1 percent for the game, had five players in double figures led by Jamere Hill with 22 points and Gary Solomon with 17. The Flyers also outrebounded the Miners by a 48-27 margin on the night.
The Miners return home Saturday to take on McKendree in a 3 p.m. contest at Gibson Arena.
