ROLLA, MO -- The Miners outlasted the Missouri-St. Louis Tritons 88-84 in a thrilling matchup at Gibson Arena. This marked S&T's twelfth straight home win, dating back to February 3 of last year.

Lovell Williams (Rogers, MN/Maple Grove) came out firing, knocking down a pair of jumpers to help the Miners jump to an early 6-0 lead. The Tritons, however, stayed within striking distance as Emanuel Prospere II scored six points to keep the visitors in the game.

A pair of three-pointers by Blaise Beauchamp (Minnetonka, MN/Hopkins) gave the Miners their largest lead of the game at 9:14, extending the advantage to 28-18. UMSL responded with a strong effort, as Matt Enright and Savon Wykle led a 9-2 run that cut S&T's lead to three. Ryan Sroka (Lake in the Hills, IL/Huntley) and Beauchamp answered with a 7-0 run to push the lead back to ten, but a late basket by UMSL brought the score to 44-36 at halftime.

The Tritons came out strong in the second half, cutting their deficit in half within the first 90 seconds to make it 44-40. Cameron Stovall (St. Louis, MO/Vashon) scored the Miners' first field goal of the half at 17:38, but UMSL's Enright immediately responded with a three-pointer, trimming S&T's lead to three—their smallest margin since the opening minutes.

S&T managed to hold off UMSL for several minutes, but the Tritons persisted and eventually took their first lead of the game, 57-56, at 12:13. From there, the game turned into a nail-biter, with neither team leading by more than four points. The Miners took a two-point lead twice in the final minutes, only for the Tritons to tie the game each time. With 27 seconds remaining, S&T gained possession for the final play.

Williams brought the ball up the court, dribbling out beyond the three-point line as the clock wound down. With just a few seconds left, he drove toward the basket for a layup, but his shot was blocked by Wykle. The ball went out of bounds, giving S&T possession on the baseline with three seconds left. On the ensuing in-bounds play, Williams found Andrew Young (Ballwin, MO/Marquette) under the basket for the deciding points. The Miners held on for the victory, improving their record to 13-1.

Notable Performances

• Young: Recorded a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds along with a 70% field goal percentage, 5 assists, a block and a steal.
• Williams: 20 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 blocks.
• Beauchamp: 4-7 from the three and 3 rebounds.