Southern tripped up Evansville 70-63 at the Arena Saturday night. The win moved SIU closer to the thick of the MVC race.
After the excitement of playing against Duke and UCLA in New York, it's been a rough stretch for the Salukis of late. Kicking along dead last in the Valley chase as of last week, Southern, however, is now rapidly rounding into form.
The Evansville win was hard earned. The Aces entered the contest at 11-3 and conceded nothing all night long. In the first half coach Marty Simmons' club romped to a nine point lead, causing bewildered SIU fans to mutter to themselves- as has frequently been the case this season.
The Salukis, however, looked stern. The good kind of stern. Nine men on a mission kind of stern.
Suddenly the Dawgs close the half with a Wesley Clemmons buzzer beater from the left baseline for a 39-35 lead..and...nobody's muttering....
The nine men trod back onto the court, and they all score. Tony Boyle's jamming the ball. He racks up a double double with 14 and 10. Kevin Dillard nets 13 and guts out 34 minutes with severe leg cramping. He's on the court at the finish. Bryan Mullins gets his nose bashed bloody but logs 36 minutes, dishes out 7 more assists while adding 8 pts. Most of us see lights and hardwood. He sees blueprints of the stadium. Vectors...angles..........
Justin Bocot executes a 270 to make a highlight layup. Anthony Booker gets two and wants more. Fire in the eye. Good sign. Nick Evans and Carlton Fay battle to a draw with platoons of Aces in the low post. Advantage: Dawgs.
Wes Clemmons and Ryan Hare nail up 9 pts. apiece mainly by driving the lane. Hare manages it grinning ear to ear. More effective Dawgs. Cue: Band, crowd noise. Across the way Coach Chris Lowery peers through his wire rim spectacles and nods approvingly.
Whoops.... Here comes Evansville. They close to 64-61 until a Dillard layup makes the crowd breathe easier.
Post game show: Pesky Indiana State has derailed Illinois State in O.T. The MVC race is tightening...........
Next stop for Southern : Creighton, and 3 of the next 4 games on the road.
More tests and adventures for.......... Nine Men on a Mission.
THAT'S TONIGHT'S VIEW FROM ROW TWO
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4 comments:
This was a good game for us. I really think we have turned the corner, and the Creighton game will be another huge test!
I think the fact that Roundtree and CC are gone kindda gave a new identity to this team.
Go dawgs!
Thanks for the comment.
The creighton game will indeed be a huge test... I give CU the edge at their place, but the game could very well go down to the wire...
WOW.....ok...that was hard to swallow......losing a game this way (in OT, in Omaha, and with the game in our hands) hurts, but it hurts more to remember that this team lost two home games already that they should have won.
Yeah, that really did sting. Even worst that it came on regional TV. At least the team is improving.
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