KANSAS CITY, MO -- Missouri S&T won a thriller in Kansas City today, taking down the Hawks 78-77 on a buzzer beater with less than 2 seconds left in the contest. The win clinches the #1 seed for the Miners in next month's GLVC tournament and earns them the title of GLVC Regular Season Champions.
Today's game featured one of the slowest starts so far this season, with the Miners taking just a 6-3 lead in the opening eight minutes. The Hawks would put together an 8-2 run in the next few minutes to take their first lead of the game and go up 11-8. S&T responded with a 7-0 run that put them ahead 15-11 with roughly eight minutes left in the half. Lead changes and ties abounded in the ensuing minutes before the Miners ended the first half on an 8-2 run to go ahead 33-25 at halftime.
Rockhurst took eight of the first ten points of the second half, going ahead 36-35 three minutes in. The score would be tied thrice in the next few minutes, with the Miners eventually reclaiming a solid lead with a 6-0 run. Missouri S&T would pull ahead by as many as eight before an 11-4 RU run made it a one-point game with less than 10 minutes to play. The Miners maintained a slim lead down the back stretch of the game, not conceding the lead until 1:17 when Rockhurst's Jaylen Wesley hit a jumper to go up 75-74.
Another Hawks basket and a pair of
Andrew Young (Ballwin, MO/Marquette) free throws kept the Hawks ahead by one with 43 seconds to go. After the free throws by Young, the Miners played good defense on the other end, leading to a missed Rockhurst layup and prompting an S&T timeout. With 10.7 seconds left
Ryan Sroka (Lake in the Hills, IL/Huntley) inbounded the ball to
Lovell Williams (Rogers, MN/Maple Grove) who passed it to Young at the top of the key with roughly six seconds left. Young clearly considered taking the shot but opted not to, finding
Blaise Beauchamp (Minnetonka, MN/Hopkins) deep behind the arc instead. Beauchamp's triple came up short, bouncing off the front edge of the rim with 2.5 left, leaving time for a
Cameron Stovall (St. Louis, MO/Vashon) rebound and tip-in with 1.5 seconds left to give the Miners the buzzer beater victory.
The tip-in buzzer beater was just the tip of the iceberg for Stovall today, who recorded a career-high 26 points and went 12-of-18 from the field. Young had the second most points for the Miners, recording another double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds.
What's Next
The Miners end the regular season with road games against Lincoln and Drury.
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