With an injured Matt Shaw scowling morosely from the bench Friday night, it seemed the Salukis' were in for a mighty difficult second half.
Despite a 30-25 halftime lead, the Salukis' chances appeared to have dimmed considerably when Chris Lowery sent Tony Boyle forth to do battle. As it turned out, what was the problem?
Boyle, who later growled, "Sometimes you gotta suck it up", was more than adequate. In fact, he was absolutlely inspirational. After Shaw had led all scorers with 11 in the first half, Boyle turned up the heat on the staggering Crusaders with 14 of his own. He canned 4 0f 5 from the field and six of eight from the stripe. He wrestled down five boards, to boot. Ball game!
Possessors of staunch defensive prowess themselves, Holy Cross had the audacity to go snoot to snoot with the Dawgs and try to beat them at their own game. After all, low post "hoss" Tim Clifford, (who has 5 inches and 15 pounds on Carlos Zambrano) figured to be an asset in a low scoring game.
Then there was the issue of Keith Simmons' 44 game streak of double figure games. The pesky Torey Thomas could steal a brick out of the pyramids. Did SIU really have the sort of game to match all this? Yep.....
The thing is, nobody....not Lowery...not TV analysts.... actually nobody can really figure out exactly what make the Dawgs tick. Take away one thing, they invent something else.
Not that in-your-chest defensive basketball is particle physics. It's just that SIU keeps tinkering with the exact formula of the thing. On Saturday they concocted still another winning combination.
The no-nonsense Boyle was abetted by a flyin' version of Jamaal Foster, who parachuted out of the rafters for a gawk-inducing tip in. Then there was Bryan Mullins, whose multitudinous methods of engineering a victory are becoming things of wonder. Case in point: (method # 257)...after being involved in a grisly turnover on offense , which resulted in a Crusader rocketing away with the ball,. Mullins slammed on 200 meter dash speed, ran down the scofflaw on the sideline and freaked him so much he boomed the ball four feet over his partner's head and into the crowd.
S.I.U. ball. Thank you Bryan. Oh, yes, heck of a job on that three from the corner down the stretch.
Southern' defense was so startling that Holy Cross just couldn't bear up. They played tough and earned respect...but just couldn't reel the Dawgs in. Southern limited Simmons to just 4 pts. and who else ever did that? Thomas nailed 9 free throws to get a creditable 15 for the game. Clifford displayed a nice touch from ten feet in, netting 9 for the night.
Peeking out from within a forest of arms, SIU's Randal Falker managed to tally twelve. Meanwhile, Jamaal Tatum used six free throws to get 10.
It's probable Shaw will not play Sunday. Virginia Tech wins it, right? They're tough, talented, motivated, etc. Not so fast. The Salukis have an uncanny cohesion and an immunity to pressure. As Lowery looks down the bench, he may still have no idea what some of his troops might be able to do. One thing Tony Boyle has taught them all. You don't worry one bit. Just get out there and tear 'em up. A win Sunday would be an all time victory record for Southern and clinch a spot in the sweet 16. They'll suit up and be out there. You can count on it.
