ROLLA, Mo. - Missouri S&T shot .640 in the second half and held the Blue Tigers to .375 shooting for the evening as the Lincoln men's basketball team fell to the Miners, 72-54, on Monday (Dec. 2).

It was a six point game at halftime, as LU limited the Miners to .448 shooting from the field and .182 from beyond the arc over the first 20 minutes. Lincoln (5-2, 0-2 GLVC) scored the first five points of the night and took a 13-6 lead on a layup by Matthieu Biembongo with 11:20 left in the period. The Blue Tigers continued to lead by seven with 9:02 remaining, but Missouri S&T (4-0, 1-0 GLVC) ended the half on a 23-10 run to take a 34-28 advantage into the break.

While the first half was closely contested, the second half belonged to the Miners, who allowed Lincoln to make just nine field goals over the final 20 minutes, including just one trey. The Miners held slim advantages in rebounding (34-31) and turnovers (10-11), and Lincoln's reserves out-scored Missouri S&T's, 25-12. The Miners controlled the paint, however, finishing with 46 points under the basket compared to 26 for the Blue Tigers.

Max Ekono led Lincoln with 15 points and grabbed two rebounds to go with two assists and a pair of steals. Franck Yetna added 11 points and three rebounds while Mikey West provided eight points and two boards. Biembongo, meanwhile, ended the night with seven points, four rebounds and two steals.

Xavier Ball finished with a team-high six rebounds and and tallied five points and an assist while Malcolm Davis and Tyson Robinson each chipped in two points. Davis additionally grabbed five rebounds while Robinson pulled down one. Tyler Chapman rounded out the scoring for Lincoln with four points, four rebounds, an assist and a steal. Caleb Wright closed out Lincoln with two rebounds.

The Blue Tigers return home to host Lewis on Thursday night (Dec. 5) at 7:30 p.m. CST.