Southern Illinois clamps down for 55-49 victory over Sycamores

TERRE HAUTE, IN (1-5-2006) – Indiana State held a lead late into its Missouri Valley Conference contest against league-leading Southern Illinois, but the Salukis used fierce defense and timely shots to down the Sycamores, 55-49. ISU fell to 8-4, 1-3 MVC while the Salukis improved to 10-3, 3-0 MVC. Southern Illinois has now won eight consecutive games.

In a contest in which the score was tied eight times and the lead changed 12, ISU was held without a field goal for the final 7:25. The final ISU make of the game was a 3-pointer by freshman Jeremiah Wise, which gave the Sycamores a 48-44 advantage.

Southern’s Jamaal Tatum answered with a three of his own to move Southern within one, 48-47, at the 5:12 mark. The Salukis then took the lead for good when Tony Young hit a running jumper as the clock ticked below four minutes for SIU’s final lead at 49-48.

Tatum went on to drain a pair of free throws with 1:42 showing for a 51-48 advantage. Young missed a lay-up on the Salukis next trip, and then ISU freshman Jay Tunnell was fouled after grabbing the defensive rebound. Tunnell hit 1-of-2 charity tosses to close the Salukis advantage down to 51-49.

Needing a stop, the Sycamores could not hold Southern Illinois’ Matt Shaw, who drained a jump shot under heavy defense and gave SIU a 53-49 lead with the clock ticking down to 30 seconds. Wise missed a 3-pointer on ISU’s final trip, and then Southern’s Young iced the game with a pair of free throws for the 55-49 victory.

Junior Tyson Schnitker was 7-of-13 from the field, including a 3-pointer to score 15 points in defeat. Junior Trent Wurtz joined Schnitker in double figures with 10. Wurtz was a perfect 5-for-5 from the charity line in the contest.

The Salukis were paced by Young’s 15 points. Shaw scored 10 points and pulled down nine rebounds in the game.

The Sycamores return to action when they travel to in-state rival Evansville for a MVC contest on Saturday night. The contest will be televised live by Fox Sports Midwest. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:05 p.m., CST. USA-365.com provides live Internet audio streaming with Brian Fritz providing the play-by-play and Jim Waugh the color commentary. The pre-game show starts at 4:40 p.m. (CST), with the tip-off set for 5:05 p.m., CST / 6:05 p.m., EST on www.USA-365.com.

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