Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
13-4, 8-1MVC
Bradley
7-12, 3-5MVC
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bradley | 38 | 34 | 72 |
| Southern Illinois | 31 | 44 | 75 |
Men's Basketball Holds On to Beat Bradley, 75-72
01/29/2003 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 29, 2003
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois rallied from a 10-point second half deficit and then held on late to defeat Bradley, 75-72, and extend its home-winning streak to 22 games, the fifth longest in Division I basketball.
Trailing 41-31 early in the second half, SIU finally solved the Bradley zone by pounding the ball inside to big men Jermaine Dearman, Josh Warren and Sylvester Willis. The trio scored 12 points during a 21-11 Saluki run that knotted the score at 52-52 with 9:59 remaining.
A jumper by Dearman gave SIU a 55-54 lead at 9:26, and Southern never trailed thereafter.
With the inside game working for the Salukis, guard Kent Williams was able to shake free for 14 of his game-high 22 points in the second half. His 3-pointer with 2:23 remaining lifted SIU to a 71-66 advantage.
After a Dearman free throw put the Salukis up by six with 1:55 left, Bradley's James Gillingham made successive 3-point plays to tie the game, 72-72. First, he burried a 3-pointer from the left corner. Then, after a missed three by Williams, he went coast-to-coast for a layup and was fouled by Williams.
Williams left the game with his fifth foul, Gillingham made the free throw, and Southern had the ball with a minute to play and the game tied. With 49 seconds on the clock, Darren Brooks drove into traffic and was fouled by Chris Mroz. Brooks hit one-of-two free throws to give SIU a 73-72 lead, and Bradley called timout.
After working the clock down to 15 seconds, Mike Suggs drove into the lane for the would-be go-ahead shot. It rimmed out, and Michael Stewart's tip-in also would not fall. The ball went out of bounds and back to Southern with 10 seconds left.
Brooks was fouled on the in-bounds pass and made both free throws with seven seconds left to put Southern up, 75-72. Phillip Gilbert's 3-pointer from the top of the key hit the backboard and bounced off the rim, and Bryan Turner grabbed the long rebound for Southern to secure the victory.
"It was a hard fought game," Saluki head coach Bruce Weber said. "I will be honest, I had nightmares going into the game. We seem to keep finding a way to win in the second half."
The Salukis (13-4, 8-1) were out of sync offensively much of the evening against Bradley's zone, settling primarily for 3-point shots in the first half and hitting just 2-of-11 from outside the arc and 31 percent overall in the first 20 minutes.
Mike Suggs dominated the action for the Braves (7-12, 3-5) scoring 26 points and grabbing 15 rebounds.
