Miners trample Livin' The Dream in second half in 110-65 exhibition win

ROLLA, Mo. - Missouri S&T's men's basketball team got off to a fast start Saturday - then kicked things into high gear in the second half as it blitzed Livin' The Dream 67-28 in the final 20 minutes - to come away with a 110-65 win in its final exhibition game prior to next weekend's season opener.

The Miners jumped out to a 13-3 lead in the first six minutes of play after a lay-in by Maurice Grinter and led by as many as 20 after a jumper by Eli Steinbeck at the 8:16 mark of the opening half. However, the exhibition squad took advantage of some sloppy play on the offensive end by the Miners in the final eight minutes and used some hot shooting of its own to cut the margin down to six by halftime at 43-37.

S&T wasted little time in the second half regaining control of the contest. After LTD's Walter Bethea scored on a layup at the 17:51 mark to make it a five-point game at 49-44, the Miners ran off 12 of the next 14 points and took a 15-point lead on Carlton Westbrook's trey from the top of the key with 15:15 to go.

The Miners continued to build onto the lead as LTD went ice cold from the floor - the guests made only 24 percent of their shots in the second half after hitting 58 percent of their tries in the first 20 minutes - outscoring LTD 23-4 over a span of seven minutes to push the lead out to 35 points with 7:38 left on the clock.

Four players finished in double figures for the Miners, with Westbrook leading the way with 23 points on nine-of-10 shooting from the floor and hitting all three of his long range attempts; S&T was 11-of-19 from behind the arc Saturday.

Nusrath Khan finished with 21 points and a game-high six assists for S&T, while Maurice Grinter recorded his second double-double of the exhibition season with 20 points and 11 boards. Bryce Foster also finished in double figures with 18 points and also had six steals, while Tommy Pelczynski had seven rebounds and five assists to go along with his nine points.

The Miners shot 58.5 percent in the second half from the floor and finished the evening at 56 percent. S&T also outrebounded LTD by a 53-34 margin.

Bethea and Marcus McKinney had 14 points apiece to lead Livin' The Dream, a squad based in the Kansas City area.

Missouri S&T opens its 2010-11 regular season schedule next Saturday when it hosts Blackburn at 7:30 p.m. at Billy Key Court.