Late rally is too little, too late for Miners in loss to Pumas

Tyrone Davidson

For a half, the Miners were able to hang with the faster paced style of Saint Joseph's. And for a moment late in the second half, it appeared that UMR might have a chance to pull off a miracle comeback.

But after scoring eight points in a span of 38 seconds to get to within five, the Miners' late rally fell short as the visiting Pumas came away from the Great Lakes Valley Conference opener for both teams with an 80-73 win over UMR at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.

Both teams shot the ball well in the opening half, as Saint Joseph's (3-1, 1-0 GLVC) hit on 50 percent of its attempts while the Miners were at 48.5 percent. The Pumas had as much as a six-point lead in the early going, but UMR charged back and took its first lead in the game at 27-26 on a basket by Yamani Ball with 5:13 left in the half.

After the Pumas regained the lead, the Miners scored six of the next eight points to go up 33-30 on a lay-in by Dan Kieres. UMR still led 34-32 with 2:46 left in the half, but Saint Joseph's outscored UMR 9-2 to finish the half with a 41-36 lead.

The Pumas scored the first five points of the second half to gain a double-figure lead for the first time in the game, but UMR answered with six straight points to get to within four. However, Saint Joseph's put the next eight points on the board to build its lead to 12 and it maintained a double-figure lead until the final two minutes, when the Miners made a furious run in an attempt to steal the contest.

With Saint Joseph's ahead 75-62, the Miners scored eight points in that span of 38 seconds to get within five with 1:10 to go. Back-to-back three-point baskets by Justin Taylor and Ball, followed by a tremendous block by Tyrone Davidson that sparked a fast break basket by Taylor got the margin down to five.

The Pumas made five of their final six free throws after the Taylor basket to keep the Miners at bay and stop the Miners' modest two-game winning streak.

Davidson finished with a double-double for the Miners with 18 points and 12 rebounds, while adding three assists, two steals and four blocked shots. The Miners also got 17 points from Taylor and 12 from Ball in a game in which they shot 47 percent overall but struggled once again from long range, going just four-of-19 from three-point land.

UMR (3-3, 0-1 GLVC) will host Indianapolis (1-1, 0-0 GLVC) Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building. The Greyhounds' scheduled game at Missouri-St. Louis Thursday night was postponed to Sunday due to the weather in the St. Louis area.