LIBERTY, Mo. - The William Jewell men's basketball team was once again in a late battle but pulled held off a Missouri S&T rally to down the Miners 81-77 and earn their first Great Lakes Valley Conference win of the year. The victory moves Jewell to 3-5 on the season overall. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Cardinals broke out to an early eight point lead, 9-1, after triples from Trey Shannon, John Zimmerman and Mason Alexander. S&T rallied and quickly tied things up back up but Jewell responded with an 18-7 run, led by 10 points from Kobe McKinley in a span of less than six minutes, to open up a 27-16 advantage.
• Another Zimmerman three followed by a Jevaughn Ferguson block and layup gave the Cards their biggest lead of the night at 34-20 with 3:34 remaining in the first half. The Miners finished on a 7-0 run to cut the lead in half at the intermission. 
• S&T pulled close multiple times in the second half, but each time Jewell was able to push the lead back to double digits, capped by a dunk by Heri Tshiyoyo to push the lead back to 14 with just over three minutes to play. 
• The Miners went on a 15-4 run over the next three minutes to get within four after a three by Julien Smith with eight ticks on the clock but free throws from McKinley sealed the victory making the bucket at the buzzer from S&T a no threat. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Alexander poured in a season-high 20 points on 7-of-11 from the floor, 4-of-6 from behind the arc to with four assists. 
• McKinley played just 14 minutes but added 16 points and five rebounds during that time while Jordan Jermain chipped in 13 points.
• Tshiyoyo was dominant on the glass, grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds to go with eight points and two blocks. 
• Jewell forced the Miners into 14 turnovers and capitalized on them, scoring 25 points. 

UP NEXT
Jewell takes a break from league play for the remainder of the semester as they are back in the Mabee Center on December 10 to play host to Baptist Bible College at 7 p.m.