The Miners, who improved to 3-1 on the season heading into their Great Lakes Valley Conference opener Thursday against Rockhurst, used a 17-0 run late in the first half to break open a game that had been played on even terms for the first 12 minutes.

Central Bible held a 25-23 lead after Caleb Willis' three-point play with 8:26 to play in the first half.  The Miners took the lead back just under a minute later on a jumper by Aaron Redecker and didn't allow the Spartans (2-9) to score until the final seconds of the first half, by which time S&T had built its lead to 15.

S&T saw the lead fall under 10 only momentarily in the second half, when Blake Hanson hit one of his seven three-pointers to cut the margin to eight at 43-35.  A.J. Mandani's jumper in the lane on the Miners' next trip down the floor sparked a 15-3 spurt that allowed them to expand the lead to 20 with 12 minutes to play.

The Miners led by as many as 21 in the second half, the last time at 71-50.

Mandani led the Miners with 14 points, while Adam Knollmeyer and Redecker finished with 12 apiece.  Redecker added 10 rebounds in the game to give him a double-double for the second day in succession. 

S&T shot 50 percent for the second straight game and had a six rebound edge on the Spartans, who were led by Hanson with his game-high 26 points.

The Miners will face Rockhurst Thursday at 7:30 p.m. to kick off GLVC play at Billy Key Court at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.

The Miners had six players in double figures in the contest, led by a double-double by junior center Aaron Redecker.  S&T shot 50.8 percent from the field on the night and went a season best six-of-14 from three-point range.

After the teams traded baskets in the opening minutes of the contest, the Miners rattled off an 18-4 run to take a 33-19 lead by the 8:24 mark.  S&T made six of its eight shots from the floor during that run, including three-points from Aaron Hays and Marquis Jones.

The Miners took a 14-point lead into the locker room and extended it to 21 in the first five minutes of the second half as Justin Taylor's three-pointer gave S&T a 66-45 advantage. 

S&T's lead never fell under 10 for the balance of the night.

Redecker posted his first double-double as a Miner with 18 points and 16 rebounds -- both career highs -- while A.J. Mandani finished with 14.  Hays added 13 points, while Taylor finished with 11 and Adam Knollmeyer and Jones scored 10 points apiece.

Thanks in large part to Redecker's 16 boards, the Miners (2-1) also enjoyed a huge advantage on the boards as they had 41 rebounds to Missouri Baptist's 27.  S&T got 18 of its rebounds on the offensive end and that led to 21 second chance points.

The Spartans (3-3), who got 17 points from Brandon Bishop, shot 48.2 percent from the field in the contest, but hit only two of their 13 three-point tries and just 19-of-29 at the free throw line.

Missouri S&T will face Central Bible Saturday in its second game at UMSL; game time is at 1 p.m.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - An ice cold night from the field, particularly in the second half, doomed Missouri S&T's men's basketball team Tuesday night as it suffered its first loss of the season 70-59 at Lincoln University.

S&T was plagued by poor shooting - 35 percent for the night - and 22 turnovers as the Miners were unable to follow up their thrilling opening game win in double overtime Saturday with another victory.  Instead, the Miners had a tough time scoring, as a 32.3 shooting mark in the second half doomed any hope of rallying from a double-digit margin.

Lincoln led throughout the first half, building as much as an eight-point lead at 27-19 after a three-point play by Donald Brumfield.  S&T trimmed the lead down to three by halftime on a basket by A.J. Mandani, making the score 33-30 as the teams went to the locker room.

The Blue Tigers were able to extend that lead into double figures as the Miners came out cold to start the second half, as Kyle Wilde's three-pointer gave LU a 42-32 lead three minutes into the period.

Lincoln's lead grew to as many as 14 as the Miners made only two of their first 14 shots to start the second half. 

S&T was able to cut the Lincoln lead inside of double figures a couple of times, getting it down to eight on two free throws by Aaron Redecker with 8:17 to go, and later got the margin down to six at 59-53 when Redecker converted two more free throws at the 2:20 mark.

Mandani led the Miners with 15 points and Redecker had 12; no other Miner scored in double figures.  Lionel Booker led the Blue Tigers (2-0) with 17 points.

The Miners (1-1) will be idle until Nov. 28 when they face Missouri Baptist in a 7 p.m. game at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

After watching Steven Barnett's three-pointer go in just before the buzzer in regulation to send the game to overtime -- and watching Harding follow that by taking a quick four-point lead in the extra period -- the Miners came back to force a second overtime period which it dominated to come away with a 93-80 double overtime win over the Bisons at Billy Key Court.

In a game that included 11 lead changes and 13 ties, neither team was able to build a lead of more than six points in the first 45 minutes of play.  S&T built its six-point lead at 21-15 after a pair of free throws by Aaron Redecker at the 4:45 mark and maintained the advantage for the balance of the half, going into the locker room with a 29-24 lead.

The Miners continued to hold the lead until the 12:29 mark of the second half, when the Bisons made a 10-2 run to take their biggest lead of the night at 51-45.  S&T answered with a 12-3 spurt of its own, as it regained the lead when Aaron Hays drained a three-pointer with 6:02 to go to give the Miners a 57-54 lead.

The game was tied at 65 with just over two minutes to go when Harding's Brian Howard fouled out when he was whistled for a block, which led to a technical foul being called on the Harding bench.  Adam Knollmeyer made three of the four free throws to give S&T a three-point lead, but the Miners were unable to put the game away. 

Hays hit the first of two at the line with five seconds to go to give S&T a three-point lead, but missed the second and Barnett took the rebound up the floor and fired up a shot from 22 feet away that went in at the buzzer to tie it at 72.

Harding jumped on top with baskets on its first two possessions in overtime, but the Miners clawed back and drew even at 78 when Justin Taylor hit two free throws with 26 seconds to go.  Trent Morgan missed a potential game-winning shot in the final seconds for the Bisons, then the Miners got one last chance but saw Taylor's three-pointer rim out at the horn.

Unfazed, the Miners jumped into the lead in the second overtime period and never relinquished it.  Marquis Jones knocked down a three from the 26 seconds into the period, then hit another one with just over two minutes to go to give the Miners their biggest lead of the night at 86-78.

S&T outscored Harding 15-2 in the second overtime period and held the Bisons without a field goal during those five minutes.

The Miners had five players in double figures, led by Redecker with 17 points.  Taylor and Knollmeyer had 15 apiece; Knollmeyer finished with a double-double as he added 15 boards.  S&T also got 11 points apiece from Jones and A.J. Mandani.

Morgan led all scorers in the contest with 21 points, while Barnett had 19 before he fouled out in the second overtime.

S&T (1-0) will face Lincoln Tuesday in a 7 p.m. game in Jefferson City. 

Billy Key, who holds the record for the most coaching wins of any head coach in the history of the Missouri S&T men's basketball program, will have the floor at the Gale Bullman Multi-Purpose dedicated in his honor at the Miners' season opening game this season.

Key, who won 279 games as the Miners' head coach from 1964 until his retirement from the bench in 1987, will have the basketball floor named in his honor in a ceremony at the Miners' 2008-09 season opener on Saturday, Nov. 15 against Harding University.  Game time is at 6:30 p.m.

The Lady Miner basketball team, coming off a year when it reached the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional championship game, will also play its season opener against Lincoln University that day at 4 p.m..

The floor will be named Billy Key Court at the Gale Bullman Multi-Purpose Building and will sport his signature in front of the Miner bench and also on the opposite side of the floor in front of the north seating area.

Key is a member of the Missouri S&T Athletics Hall of Fame, as well as the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame and University of Central Missouri Athletics Hall of Fame. In the 1986-87 season, Key served as the president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, a position held by only one NCAA Division II coach since that time.

He became the men's basketball coach in 1964 and led the Miners to their first conference championship in the 1975-76 campaign when the institution was aligned with the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association. He also took two Miner teams to the NCAA Division II Tournament, leading the 1974-75 team to the regional as well as the Miners' MIAA championship squad.

He coached two players that earned All-America honors at Missouri S&T (Curtis Gibson and Duane Huddleston) and three others that earned Academic All-America honors (Ross Klie, Todd Wentz and Dave Moellenhoff). In addition, he coached the first Miner player - Ken Stalling - to be drafted by a National Basketball Association team.

Meanwhile, the S&T men's team was tabbed for a sixth place finish in the GLVC West in the upcoming year by the league's coaches.

The Lady Miners, who were 24-7 overall and 15-4 in the conference to finish second in the division behind Drury, did receive a first place vote in the poll but ended up behind Drury, which returns three starters and Quincy, which has its entire starting lineup back, in the divisional race.

S&T has its top two scorers in Tamara McCaskill, a first-team All-GLVC selection, and third-team pick Katie McElrath back, but does have to replace its other three starters.

The Lady Miners were followed by Southern Indiana, Missouri-St. Louis and Rockhurst in the GLVC West rankings.  Defending NCAA Division II champion Northern Kentucky was named as the favorite in the GLVC East, followed by Indianapolis and Bellarmine.

In the men's poll, Drury and Southern Indiana were named as the co-favorites in the GLVC West with the two schools splitting the six first place votes; Drury is the defending division and tournament champion.  Quincy was picked to end up third, with Missouri-St. Louis and Rockhurst picked ahead of the Miners in that order.

Three teams in the GLVC East received at least two first place votes apiece, with Kentucky Wesleyan named as a narrow favorite over Northern Kentucky and Lewis.

Missouri S&T returns several players from last season's squad, including leading scorer Justin Taylor and is counting on contributions from transfers Adam Knollmeyer (Saint Louis), Aaron Redeker (Three Rivers) and A.J. Mandani (South Suburban).

GLVC Pre-Season Women's Coaches Poll
West Division
1. Drury (28-4)
2. Quincy (20-10)
3. Missouri S&T (24-7)
4. Southern Indiana (10-17)
5. Missouri-St. Louis (7-20)
6. Rockhurst (8-19)

East Division
1. Northern Kentucky (28-8)
2. Indianapolis (22-8)
3. Bellarmine (20-12)
4. Lewis (13-13)
5. Wisconsin-Parkside (17-11)
6. Kentucky Wesleyan (14-13)
7. Saint Joseph's (1-25)

GLVC Pre-Season Men's Coaches Poll
West Division
1. (tie) Drury (28-4)
1. (tie) Southern Indiana (15-12)
3. Quincy (16-13)
4. Missouri-St. Louis (10-17)
5. Rockhurst (9-18)
6. Missouri S&T (3-24)

East Division
1. Kentucky Wesleyan (24-8)
2. Northern Kentucky (21-8)
3. Lewis (20-11)
4. Bellarmine (17-11)
5. Saint Joseph's (18-12)
6. Wisconsin-Parkside (16-11)
7. Indianapolis (14-13)

  After three seasons of struggles through the Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule, the Missouri S&T men's basketball team is looking at the 2008-09 season as an opportunity to change its image.

The Miners have had a tough time breaking into the win column since joining the conference in 2005, but with the addition of four transfers to this season's otherwise experienced roster, the outlook is the best that it has been in several years.

"The make-up of this team reminds me of the teams we had in the mid-1990s, where we had good size up front and guards who can shoot and handle the ball," said Miner head coach Dale Martin. "Hopefully, we will bring more toughness to our team and get over the hump by this season by adding these players.

"Not only do we want to compete in the GLVC, but we want to do that and win," Martin added.  "It has to be a mindset of our team from day one."

The newcomers - center Aaron Redeker (Jackson, Mo.), forwards Adam Knollmeyer (Linn, Mo.) and Jonathan Jordan (Calumet City, Ill.) and guard A.J. Mandani (Brampton, Ont.) - are expected to compete for starting spots and more importantly, put the Miners in a position to be more on a par talent-wise with the other teams in the GLVC.

Redeker, a 6-11 product of Three Rivers Community College, averaged seven points and five rebounds a game as primarily a reserve player last season, but also proved his worth as a defensive presence as he averaged two blocked shots a game.  

Knollmeyer, who stands at 6-8, comes to Missouri S&T from Saint Louis University where he has played for the last two seasons.  He was a prolific interior scorer at the high school level at Linn High School where he averaged a double-double - 18 points and 11 rebounds per game - to earn all-state honors.

Jordan played at Kankakee Community College and was a solid defensive player at the junior college level, while Mandani comes to the Miners from South Suburban College and is expected to give S&T some additional offensive punch from the perimeter; he averaged 12 points a game and shot 42 percent from three-point range a year ago.

While the Miners are expecting big contributions from that group of newcomers, they have several players back from last season's squad who also figure to contend for starting spots and play key roles in the team's success this winter.

Heading that group is junior guard Justin Taylor (Webster Groves, Mo.), the Miners' top scorer from last season with an average of 15.5 points per game.  Taylor, who closed the year with a 35-point outburst at Southern Indiana, has been a solid perimeter shooter for the team over the last two years and should benefit from additional offensive support on the roster.

Other returning perimeter players include seniors Curtis Mosley (Chicago, Ill./Thornridge), who led the team in steals with 55 and averaged 8.4 points a game last season; Aaron Hays (Kirksville, Mo.), who started nearly every game as a freshman and averaged nine points a game; Owain Hall (Kingston, Jamaica), who shot 36 percent from three-point land as a junior; and Marquis Jones (St. Louis, Mo./Cardinal Ritter), who scored nearly eight points a game despite missing nearly a third of the season due to injuries.

Up front, the Miners return the services of Taurance Townsel (Houston, Texas/St. Thomas), their second-leading scorer from a year ago and DeJon Slaughter (Kansas City, Kan./Sumner Academy), who led the Miners in rebounding during his freshman year with over five a game.

The Miners will also get the services back of sophomore forward Casey Noll (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville), who averaged eight points and six rebounds per game two seasons ago but missed the 2007-08 campaign due to an injury.

"This is the time that our returning players - Justin, Casey, Marquis, the ones who have been here for a couple of years - need to become productive players on a night-in, night-out basis," Martin said.  "The transfers will give us some quality depth and I believe they will help our returning players take their game up a notch because they will create a more competitive environment.

"I've always felt that a couple of great players will not make a good team, but a team of eight, nine or ten quality players can do that," Martin added.

Two additional players on the roster, Anton Korolev (Plano, Texas), a 7-0 sophomore post player who saw playing time during the course of his freshman season and Jonathan Knollmeyer (Linn, Mo.), Adam's younger brother, are expected to redshirt this season.

Missouri S&T opens its 2008-09 schedule Nov. 15 at home against Harding.

Knollmeyer is transferring to Missouri S&T from Saint Louis University where he has spent the last two seasons. He played in 22 games last seaason for the Billikens and shot 46 percent from the floor and 75 percent at the free throw line after appearing in 21 games as a freshman.

He is the second player to sign with the Miners for next season, joining Aaron Redeker, a transfer from Three Rivers Community College.

"I really believe that Adam is going to be a fine Division II player," said Miner head coach Dale Martin. "He will be asked to do a great deal more at our level in terms of scoring and rebounding, but I really believe he'll be able to make a difference for us.

"Adam, along with Aaron, will really help upgrade our front line next season in terms of production," Martin added. "He is a very good student as well and will be a good match for us both academically and athletically."

At Linn, Knollmeyer was a Street and Smith's honorable mention All-America player and averaged 18 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks and four assists per game to lead his team to a 26-4 record. He was a first-team Missouri Class 3 all-state player as named by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association and second-team selection by the Missouri Sportswriters and Broadcasters Association.

Knollmeyer played his first three prep seasons at Helias High School in Jefferson City.

Redeker has spent the last two seasons at Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff, Mo., where he played for legendary coach Gene Bess, and averaged 7.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per game a year ago to help the Raiders finish with a record of 29-8. He also shot 50.5 percent from the field and 73.2 percent at the line while finishing as his team's third-leading rebounder.

Redeker was also a force on the defensive end, averaging over two blocked shots per game a year ago and accumulating 128 blocked shots in 74 games at Three Rivers.

"Aaron is a player who will add a lot to our team, particularly on the defensive end and in terms of competitiveness," Martin said. "He really likes to compete and I believe that can help us raise the level of our play on the floor.

"On the floor, he's a strong rebounder who really makes good decisions with the ball and will also be able to do some things for us offensively as he has been a good shooter on an outstanding junior college team at Three Rivers."

Redeker played his high school basketball at Jackson High School, where he was the team's top rebounder in his senior year. He plans to major in civil engineering at Missouri S&T.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- For a time Thursday, it looked like the Miner basketball team had designs on ending its season with a bang, as it led Southern Indiana for a good portion of the first half.

However, the host Screaming Eagles -- who are still scrambling to earn a spot in next week’s Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament -- held Missouri S&T without a field goal over the final 7:54 of the first half and finished the first 20 minutes on a 25-2 run to break loose from S&T, going on to a 76-55 win in PAC Arena despite a career night from Miner guard Justin Taylor.

The Miners took an early 6-0 lead and kept the advantage for most of the first 12 minutes, moving ahead 21-17 on a layup by Aaron Hays with 7:54 to play in the half. A foul away from the ball on the play kept the ball with the Miners, but the inbounds pass was stolen and the possession eventually led to points for the Eagles.

At the 5:47 mark, Nick Duncheon knocked down a three-point to put USI up 22-21 and the Eagles ran off 17 more points before Taylor, who had 13 of S&T’s points in the first half, hit two free throws with nine seconds to go in the half to get the Miners back on the board.

The Eagles led 42-23 at the half, then built the lead up over 30 points before the Miners trimmed it down to the final margin of 21.

Taylor finished with a career-high 35 points in the loss, going 12-of-19 from the field and hitting all six of his three-point attempts. Taylor also led the Miners with eight rebounds as he posted the most points by a Miner since the 2004-05 season finale when Jermaine Burks scored 38 at Northwest Missouri State.

The loss ends the Miner season with a 3-24 overall record and 0-19 mark in the GLVC.

For a time Tuesday night, it appeared that the Miner basketball team was poised to break into the win column in Great Lakes Valley Conference play, as they had a seven-point halftime lead over Missouri-St. Louis and a 10-point advantage with 13:29 to go.

But a victory wasn't in the cards for the Miners, as the Tritons erased that deficit and held off Missouri S&T's last-ditch effort to leave the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building with a 74-71 win in S&T's final home game of the 2007-08 season.

The Miners made an 11-4 run to end the first half with a 42-35 lead, shooting 51.6 percent from the floor in the opening half and connecting on six-of-11 from three-point range. After UMSL closed the gap to one early in the second half, S&T built its lead back up again and moved ahead 52-43 when Justin Taylor zipped a pass to Curtis Mosley in the corner for a three-pointer.

Moments later, Aaron Hays hit the first of two free throws to give S&T its biggest lead of 10 at 53-43 with 13:29 to go, but the Tritons answered by scoring nine points over the next 1:44 to draw to within one. UMSL eventually got the lead back on Nathan Whittaker's driving layup with 9:03 to go to make it 58-57.

S&T drew even again at 61 on a lay-in by Mosley with 6:08 to go, then got even again at 67 when Taylor hit a pair of free throws at the 2:20 mark. However, Whittaker knocked down a three from the wing 24 seconds later to put UMSL up for good.

The Miners had one last chance to tie the game after Tim Green made one of two at the line with 13 seconds to play, but Taylor's three-point try was off the mark in the final moments.

Taylor led the Miners with 20 points, while Mosley finished with 18 and Taurance Townsel with 11. S&T shot 44.1 percent from the floor in the game, but made only 36 percent in the second half and just one three-pointer in 12 tries.

The Tritons, who were playing their third road game in four days, were led by Paul Paradoski with 22 points.

Missouri S&T will close its season Thursday with a 7:30 p.m. game against Southern Indiana in Evansville, Ind.

(Photo by Seth Sowers, Rolla Daily News)

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The Miners were no match Saturday for the nation’s seventh-ranked team, as a hot-shooting Drury team ran past the Miners 113-76 in Weiser Gym.

The Panthers scored the first seven points of the contest and never looked back, shooting 62.5 percent in the first half to build a 25-point lead of 61-36 by the break. Drury finished the game at 57.8 percent from the field and connected 15 times from three-point range.

S&T shot 52.6 percent itself in the opening half, but was plagued by 13 turnovers which led to numerous easy scoring chances for the Panthers. Drury finished the day scoring 34 points off of the Miners’ 18 turnovers.

The Miners had four players end up in double figures, led by Justin Taylor with 24 points. S&T also got 15 points from Owain Hall, 13 from Curtis Mosley and 10 from Aaron Hays as it finished the game at 46.8 percent from the field.

Steven Gum, who hit six three-pointers for the Panthers, and Collins Harris led all scorers with 23 points.

The Miners (3-22, 0-17 GLVC) will close out their home schedule Tuesday when they face Missouri-St. Louis in a 7:30 p.m. game at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.

The Miners started out well, jumping out to a 9-4 lead and holding the advantage for the better part of the first 12 minutes. Curtis Mosley did much of the scoring for S&T in the first 20 minutes as he scored 15 of the 29 points, including three three-pointers.

However, after Taurance Townsel had tied the game with a lay-in with 27 seconds left in the half, Rockhurst’s John Torson converted a three-point play just before the period ended to give the Hawks a 32-29 halftime lead.

The Hawks built on that lead in the early part of the second half, extending the margin to 10 by the 10:15 mark on a fast break basket by Alden Smith. S&T got the lead down to six a couple of minutes later on a basket by Mosley, but the Hawks made another mini-run and got the margin out to 14 when Smith drained a three with just under six minutes remaining.

Mosley scored a career-high 22 points in the loss, while S&T also got 12 points from Justin Taylor and 10 from Aaron Hays. However, the Miners made just 36.8 percent of their shots in the game and were outrebounded by the Hawks 39-29.

Missouri S&T (3-21, 0-16 GLVC) will face seventh-ranked Drury Saturday at 1 p.m. in Springfield, Mo.

Unfortunately, the Miners had trouble scoring as well and ended up on the wrong end of the final result, as the Cougars came away with a 58-46 victory in the Great Lakes Valley Conference contest.

The Cougars built a seven-point halftime lead by hitting 56 percent of their shots in the opening half. Missouri S&T had a four-point lead of 14-10 after a pair of free throws by Justin Taylor at the 12:24 mark, but SIUE scored the next the next eight points and never trailed again.

An 11-4 spurt by SIUE allowed it to build the halftime margin, then it came out and build the lead up to 20 points in the first nine minutes of the second half, doing most of the damage from long range as it hit five three-pointers during that stretch.

The Miners held the Cougars to 37.5 percent shooting in the second half, but made only 31.6 percent of their own shots for the afternoon.

Taylor led the Miners with 13 points and Aaron Hays finished with 11 and a team-high eight rebounds. Taurance Townsel had five blocked shots in the contest for the Miners.

S&T (3-20, 0-15 GLVC) will return to action Thursday when it faces Rockhurst in Kansas City in a 7:30 p.m. game.

For the second time in 12 days, the Miner basketball team had a solid second half performance against Quincy University -- but it wasn't enough to overcome the hole it fell into during the first 20 minutes.

The Miners fell behind by 18 points by the end of the first half and ended up on the short end of a 68-55 decision Thursday to the Hawks in a Great Lakes Valley Conference contest at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.

Missouri S&T outscored Quincy 41-36 after the intermission as it shot 55.6 percent from the floor after the break. But it was the Miners' struggles from the field during the first half that put them in the 18-point deficit, as they made only three-of-23 from the field during that span and had only one made field goal in the first 17 minutes of play.

For a good stretch of the first half, the Hawks were struggling for points as well, but they got the lead into double figures with 6:08 to go in the half and eventually led 32-14 at the break.

The shots started to fall for the Miners after the intermission, as they trimmed a one-time lead of 27 points down to 14 after a tip-in by Taurance Townsel at the 9:38 mark. S&T would later get the lead down to 11 with just over a minute to play before ending up falling by 13.

Townsel led the Miners with 17 points on the evening as he made eight of his nine field goal attempts, while Curtis Mosley finished with 11.

The Miners will host Southern Illinois Edwardsville Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.

(Photo by Rod Lentz)