Southern Illinois University
23-5, 16-2MVC
Illinois St.
8-21, 5-13MVC
Salukis Advance To Semifinals Of MVC Tournament.
03/08/2003 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
March 8, 2003
ST. LOUIS - Snubbed in the voting for First Team All-Missouri Valley Conference, Jermaine Dearman made his case on the court Saturday, leading Southern Illinois to a 75-63 comeback win over Illinois State in the quarterfinals of the MVC Tournament.
Dearman matched his career high with 26 points and also pulled down 12 rebounds. Two players who guarded Dearman, Marcus Arnold and Chris Burras, both fouled out of the game in the second half trying to slow down the Saluki forward.
Number-nine seed Illinois State (8-21) showed no fear of top-seeded Southern Illinois (23-5), grabbing a 31-29 halftime advantage and clinging to a lead for the first nine minutes of the second half.
With the Redbirds up 48-44 at the 11:18 mark, Dearman keyed a 20-5 SIU run that sealed the Saluki victory. He scored 13 points in the run that spanned seven-minutes, using an array of post-up and power moves to the basket.
Kent Williams finished the run with a 3-pointer that put Southern up 67-53 with 4:35 left. Williams made all three of his 3-point attempts in the game and finished with 12 points.
Equally effective inside for Southern Illinois were centers Sylvester Willis and Josh Warren, who combined to make 5-of-6 field goals. Willis scored four points and Warren had 10.
Early in the contest, it looked like SIU might have an easy afternoon as Dearman began the game with a dunk, followed by a 3-pointer by Williams. SIU led 14-5 after the first five and a half minutes of the game.
However, Southern hit a lull, and Illinois State took its first lead, 23-22, on a 3-pointer by Gregg Alexander with 6:12 left in the first half.
The Salukis struggled against the quickness of ISU point guard vince Greene, who led all scorers with 21 points. He made 4-of-5 3-point attempts in the game.
Southern Illinois will play Sunday at 2:30 versus the winner of the Evansville-SMS game.
