CARBONDALE,
IL (1-25-2003) — In
the 100th meeting between the two Missouri Valley Conference foes, a 19-1 run by
host Southern Illinois in the second half handed Indiana State its
sixth-straight defeat on Saturday, 60-48.CARBONDALE,
IL (1-25-2003) — In
the 100th meeting between the two Missouri Valley Conference foes, a 19-1 run by
host Southern Illinois in the second half handed Indiana State its
sixth-straight defeat on Saturday, 60-48.
The victory moved Southern Illinois (12-4 overall, 7-1 in the MVC) into a first-place tie with 10th-ranked Creighton (16-2, 7-1) and stretched its SIU Arena win streak to 21 games. And the Sycamores (5-13, 1-6) must play the Bluejays next at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday in Hulman Center and try to break a six-game losing streak in the process.
Both teams battled throughout the opening half that featured six ties; however, the Sycamores were never able to mount a scoring run despite holding small leads. The host Salukis took only their third lead (21-20) of the first 20 minutes into the halftime break, following a Stetson Hairston jumper with :36 remaining in the half.
The battle continued in the early stages of the second half until a three-pointer by SIU's Bryan Turner knotted the score at 40 with 9:38 remaining in the contest. The host Salukis went on a 20-8 run to close out the contest en route to the victory.
In the loss, junior guard Wilfred Antoine led
ISU with 12 points and teammate Catrel Green had eight points and nine rebounds.
For the host Salukis, forward Jermaine Dearman led all scorers with 22 points
and Hairston chipped in 12 for the win.
Up next for Indiana State: Missouri Valley Conference co-leader Creighton
University, which brings a top-20 ranking to Hulman Center Wednesday
evening. The Bluejays (17-2, 7-1/MVC) are ranked 15th in the USA
Today/ESPN poll and 16th in the Associated Press poll. The tip-off is scheduled for
6:05
p.m., CST. Live
Internet Audio Streaming coverage on USA-365.com
begins with the pre-game show at 5:40 p.m., CST.