ROLLA, MO — Missouri S&T Men's Basketball extended their win streak to four on Tuesday night, defeating Illinois Springfield 87-66 to move into a three-way tie atop the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC).
The Miners started the game on a hot streak, hitting three three-pointers in the first 100 seconds. Two more triples pushed the Miners lead to fourteen at 19-5 just under five minutes into the game.
The Prairie Stars responded with a 9-0 run, cutting the Miners' lead to five with less than ten remaining until half. They would cut the deficit to as few as two before the Miners rattled off twelve unanswered before Blaise Beauchamp (Minnetonka, MN/Hopkins) connected on a three-pointer to put S&T ahead by seventeen at 38-21. UIS put together a 9-2 scoring run late, but back-to-back triples by Stovall sent S&T into the half up 46-32.
Stovall opened the second half with layups on consecutive possessions, followed by a three from Andrew Young (Ballwin, MO/Marquette) to extend the lead to 53-32. Stovall would connect on his next four shot attempts, scoring ten in less than three minutes to help fend off a UIS offense that was finally finding some success.
The Prairie Stars were able to make it a twenty-point game at 63-43, but another bucket from Stovall and a three from Young gave the Miners a game-high lead of 26 with just under ten remaining.
The Miners continued to connect from long range, getting triples from Beauchamp, Stovall, and Alex Benassi (Lee's Summit, MO/Lee's Summit) late, leading to an 88-67 rout of the visiting Prairie Stars.
Stovall shot 17-of-22 in the game, scoring 42 points for the second-highest scoring game by a Miner in program history. His 42 are also the most by any GLVC athlete in a conference game this year. Stovall also led the team in rebounds Roth 9 while Beauchamp added 20 points and Young scored 13.
The Miners' 16 three-pointers are their most in a conference game since January of 2014 when they hit 17 against Truman State.
What's Next
The Miners hit their final road trip of the season later this week, heading to William Jewell and Truman State
