Southern Illinois University
21-5, 11-3
Missouri St.
13-13, 8-6
Men's Basketball Falls To SW Missouri St., 78-71
02/13/2002 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Feb 13, 2002
Postgame Audio
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Southwest Missouri State snapped Southern Illinois' four-game winning streak with a 78-71 win over the Salukis Wednesday night..
Southern Illinois (21-5, 11-3) had a 10-point lead early in the second half, but hit a seven-minute dry spell without a field goal, allowing the Bears to rally back.
Marcus Belcher led the Salukis with 15, and Rolan Roberts added 14, while leading scorer Kent Williams was held to a season-low four points.
Stetson Hairston scored seven of SIU's first nine points in the game and recorded all 12 of his points in the first half.
Southern's biggest lead in the first half was five points, 39-34, after a jumper by Jermaine Dearman at the two-minute mark.
Both teams shot better than 50 percent from the field in the first half as SIU took a tenuous 39-36 lead into intermission.
SIU opened the second half with a 10-3 run to build a a 49-39 lead, its biggest of the game. The burst included a pair of dunks by Roberts and a dunk by Dearman.
However, the Salukis went without a basket during a seven-minute stretch that began with 10:30 left in the game, allowing SMS to rally back and build a 68-59 lead with 4:20 remaining.
"We lost our poise and composure," Saluki head coach Bruce Weber said. "It's a hard lesson for us to learn, but maybe it will help us down the stretch."
Darren Brooks finally connected on a 3-pointer with 3:21 left to break the drought. SIU came no closer than four points the rest of the way.
SMS (13-13, 8-6) became just the second team to shoot better than 45 percent against the Salukis this season, converting 45.6 percent.
"The thing that's most disappointing is that we broke down defensively," Weber said. "We were a step late on everything. If things don't go well on offense, you have to be able to fall back on your defense."
