The Missouri S&T men’s basketball team held a lead beyond halftime Thursday against highly-regarded Bellarmine, but the Knights used a strong shooting performance and a big run early in the the second half to propel them to an 81-65 win in a Great Lakes Valley Conference contest.
S&T held a two-point lead at the intermission after trailing by as many as 12 points in the first eight minutes of the game. After falling behind 19-7, the Miners fought back and caught up with the Knights at 30 apiece when Byron Bundy nailed a three-pointer with 1:33 to go in the half.
Bryce Foster led the Miners (7-14, 3-10 GLVC) with 18 pointsm while Adam Knollmeyer finished with 14. S&T also got 12 from Mandani and 11 from Bundy as it finished the night at 46.3 percent from the field and committed only 14 turnovers against an aggressive Knight defense.
Bellarmine (15-7, 8-5 GLVC) shot 62.1 percent in the second half and made eight of its 11 three-point attempts after shooting just 36.7 percent in the first 20 minutes. Besides Benedetti's 24 points, the Knights also got 18 from Sprague and 12 from Kendle.
The Miners will play Saturday at Northern Kentucky (12-10, 5-8 GLVC) in a 4:15 p.m. contest (Central time). The Norse knocked off 14th-ranked Drury 65-61 Thursday night.
