Southern Illinois University
Lithuania Alita
Men's Basketball Rolls in Exhibition over Lithuania, 86-66
11/04/2001 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 4, 2001
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The powerful inside tandem of Rolan Roberts and Jermaine Dearman was too much for Lithuania-Alita to contain as Southern Illinois rolled to an 86-66 exhibition victory Sunday night.
Rolan Roberts, who sat out last season after transferring from Virginia Tech, came off the bench to lead the team with 17 points and 12 rebounds. He had a handful of thunderous dunks that excited the crowd at SIU Arena.
"At first, I was really nervous after sitting out a whole year," Roberts said. "There were a lot of shots inside that I missed that I normally knock down with ease. There are a lot of things I've got to work on, like free-throw shooting. You can read the stat sheet and see that."
Dearman was also a force on the interior with 13 points and 8 rebounds.
"Coach said the biggest thing I needed to work on this year was just settling down and not rushing too much," Dearman said. "I tried to do that tonight."
The Salukis never trailed in the game. With the score tied 15-15 at 11:39 mark of the first half, SIU went on a 17-4 run during the next five minutes to build a 32-19 lead.
Lithuania-Alita, playing its third game of the exhibition season, rallied late in the first half to cut the deficit to 42-39 at halftime.
"It was ugly in the first half and dead silent in the locker room at haltime," head coach Bruce Weber said. "They played some match up zone and some things we haven't even thought about going against, and some of our young guys struggled with that. We have a lot of improvement to make, but that is why you have exhibition games."
In the second half, the Salukis' defense held Lithuania to 30 percent from the field.
"Everyone was really working hard on defense," Roberts said. "Coach has really been stressing that in practice. It is a lot different than last year."
Weber said the coaching staff pre-planned their substitutions so that everyone would get their share of minutes.
"I am pretty impressed with the new guys," Dearman said. "I think they are very talented, and I think we will be a real good team."
Everyone played for SIU with the exception of Josh Warren, Stefan Jabkiewicz and Matt Miller. Weber said those players will likely redshirt this season. The Salukis play their final exhibition game next Friday, before the home opener against Belmont on Nov. 16.
