The Miners grabbed their first lead of the second half Thursday night when Justin Taylor hit a three-pointer, but Kentucky Wesleyan answered that by scoring the next 14 points and held off Missouri S&T for a 76-65 victory in Great Lakes Valley Conference play at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.
Taylor's three-pointer at the 18:02 mark of the second half gave S&T a 37-36 lead, but the Panthers' Rodney Edgerson knocked down a three on the next trip down the floor and hit two more long-range shots during the course of the decisive run that gave KWC the lead for good.
The Miners shot 50 percent in the opening half but trailed 32-29 at the intermission, as a late six-point spurt by the Panthers gave them the lead.
Aaron Hays' three-pointer to start the second half tied the game up at 32, then the teams traded baskets until Taylor hit the three that gave the Miners the advantage before the run. Missouri S&T closed the gap under 10 just once after the Panthers built the 13-point lead, when Taylor hit a pair of foul shots at the 9:25 mark to make it 54-45.
Taylor, who had been in a shooting slump in the Miners' three most recent games, hit six of his 10 shots from the floor and a trio of three-pointers to lead the way for S&T with 21 points. The Miners also got 14 points from Taurance Townsel and nine from Marquis Jones.
Missouri S&T shot 50 percent in the game but had a tough time slowing down Edgerson, as the transfer from Washington State finished with a game-high 27 points.
The Miners (3-8, 0-3 GLVC) will host Southern Indiana (8-2, 2-0 GLVC) -- a 67-44 winner over Missouri-St. Louis Thursday -- in a 3 p.m. game Saturday at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.
Leave a comment