Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
9-9
Wichita State
8-10
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wichita State | 23 | 29 | 52 |
| Southern Illinois | 30 | 33 | 63 |
Men's Basketball beats Wichita State, 63-52
01/19/2008 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 19, 2008
By Tom Weber
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Randal Falker may have scored only 15 points in Southern Illinois' 63-52 win over Wichita State on Saturday, but the magnitude of the senior forward's impact on the game was much greater than his scoring total.
The Salukis (9-9, 4-3), who have now won back-to-back games for the first time since late November, pounded the ball inside to Falker on almost every possession in the first half. His touches were extremely productive as he scored 13 points, dished two assists and racked up a host of fouls on the Shocker front court.
"Randal obviously established how we were going to play," Saluki head coach Chris Lowery said.
Falker's ability to fight through double teams opened up the perimeter for SIU's guards, and Joshua Bone took advantage by making all three of his first half tries.
"We got threes because of (the double teams)," Lowery said. "That's how we've been wanting Randal to handle them -- be aggressive with double teams. That's what we wanted him to do for the last two months. We didn't work on anything, we just finally got him to settle down and do it."
Southern led 30-23 at halftime, but the Shockers (8-10, 1-6) rallied to tie the game, 32-32, on a jumper by Ramon Clemente with 16:24 remaining in the game.
Their momentum was short-lived, however. The Salukis responded with a 13-2 run to seize control of the contest. Guard Tyrone Green scored six of his eight points during the run to continue his solid play of late.
Green and forward Carlton Fay combined to give SIU a jolt of energy off the bench in the second half. Fay only scored four points, but he took several charges, grabbed three rebounds and hustled so much that he got a standing ovation from the crowd of 6,710 when he exited late in the game.
"I thought (the bench) did great," Lowery said. "Diving for balls, taking charges, crashing the board, posting up strong - those are the things we need from our bench."
The early foul trouble eventually took its toll on Wichita State, as Shocker big men Phillip Thomasson and JT Durley both fouled out in the second half.
"I thought we really went after Thomasson with Randal and (Tony) Boyle with the post moves," Lowery said. "That's what it's going to take for us to continue to get better during this stretch."
Saluki point guard Bryan Mullins hit a couple of back-breaking shots that snuffed out a late rally by Wichita State. After Graham Hatch made a 3-pointer to cut it to 47-41 with 6:44 left, Mullins scored five-straight points for SIU, first draining a three-ball and then connecting on a nifty pull-up jumper in the lane as the shot clock was about to expire.
"I'm comfortable with the ball and with ten seconds left either finding someone open with a good play or taking a shot for myself," Mullins said.
The Salukis will look to extend their winning streak to three games when they play at Missouri State next Wednesday.
