The Miners posted their best shooting performance in nearly a month Saturday afternoon -- and it still wasn’t enough to overcome the heroics of Rockhurst’s Joey Deas.
Deas, a junior guard, scored 23 second half points which included six three-point baskets to allow Rockhurst to escape from the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building Saturday with an 83-78 victory.
It was the timely three-pointers that Deas hit that proved to be the Miners’ downfall, as he finished with a game-high 32 points in the victory.
One of the threes came after the Miners had a chance to extend their biggest lead of the day. Missouri S&T led 66-61 with 6:08 to play, but after Owain Hall missed a three-point attempt that could have pushed the advantage to eight, Deas hit threes on back-to-back trips to put Rockhurst back in front in the seesaw affair.
He drained another three with the Hawks holding a one-point lead with 2:51 left, then delivered the dagger to the Miners’ chances for a victory with another bomb with 30 seconds to go and Rockhurst holding onto a one-point advantage.
Rockhurst led 37-28 at the half, but the Miners came out after the break and outscored the Hawks 17-7 over the first seven minutes to take their first lead since the early stages of the contest. Curtis Mosley’s lay-in with 13:03 to go gave S&T a 45-44 lead.
It was the first of six lead changes in the second half – there was also four ties – but the Miners continued to hold the advantage with a hot stretch from three-point land, as Owain Hall and Marquis Jones hit three treys in a span of three minutes to keep the Miners ahead. Jones would later hit a layup with 6:08 to go to give the Miners a 66-61 lead.
Rockhurst regained the lead on the two threes by Deas, then went up for good at 69-68 on two free throws by Tyler Knust with 4:14 to go. The Miners kept on the Hawks’ heels down the stretch, getting to within one when Mosley scored on a driving layin with 58 seconds to go, but Deas hit the last of his seven threes with seven seconds left on the shot clock to keep the Miners at bay.
S&T (3-18, 0-13 GLVC) had four players in double figures, with Justin Taylor leading the way with 16 points. Taurance Townsel finished with 15 while Mosley had 13 and Jones 11 in the loss. DeJon Slaughter had eight rebounds to lead S&T.
The Miners finished the day at 49.1 percent from the field, but the Hawks shot 50.8 percent and hit eight of their 17 three-point tries.
S&T will host Quincy Thursday in a 7:30 p.m. game at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.
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