Southern Illinois University
10-6,3-4
Evansville
6-11, 0-7
Men's Basketball tops Evansville, 65-57, snaps losing streak
01/16/2010 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 16, 2010
By Tom Weber
www.SIUSalukis.com
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Carlton Fay got hot at the right time, making a trio of 3-point shots during a pivotal three-minute span of the second half to help Southern Illinois pull away for a 65-57 win at Evansville.
Fay finished with a team-high 15 points, as the Salukis (10-6, 3-4) snapped a four-game losing streak.
"The losses definitely wear on you," Fay said. "Coach said before the game that we can either go two ways from here, down or up. Getting this win was big for us."
Southern never trailed in the game, but cold shooting to start the second half allowed Evansville to hang around. The Salukis missed seven of their first eight 3-point attempts in the second half, permitting the Purple Aces to cut a 12-point deficit to five with 9:26 remaining.
That's when Fay found the range from downtown, hitting three in a row to boost Southern's lead back up to 10 points. The Purple Aces (6-11, 0-7) never threatened thereafter.
"I've worked really hard in practice the last couple weeks on getting a lot of shots up," said Fay, who entered the game shooting 35 percent from 3-point range on the season. "I was hoping they would eventually start falling, and they did. It was a relief."
Saluki head coach Chris Lowery said the team is determined to get the ball to its talented 6-foot-8 forward.
"We've missed Carlton way too much this year," Lowery said. "Especially in some of our motion stuff, we haven't gotten him the ball back where he can catch and make a shot."
Part of the credit for Fay's big night goes to freshman center Eugene Teague, who has emerged in the last two games as a force to be reckoned with in the paint. The 6-foot-9, 290-pound center scored 12 points in 17 minutes versus Evansville, often drawing two defenders.
"He's just so big and strong, and he's a threat over both shoulders," Lowery said. "As long as we have a post presence in there, it allows Carlton to stretch it."
One of the keys to the game was SIU's ability to contain Evansville's super frosh Colt Ryan. Although the 6-foot-5 guard scored 22 points, he made just 6-of-18 shots from the field.
"We knew Colt played 40 minutes the last game, and we knew that may be an issue," Lowery said. We put big guys on him, we posted him up and gave him different looks down the floor. We just tried to make him chase us, which took a little away from his offense. He still gets 22, but it was a tough 22."
Lowery hopes the victory can be a turning point for the Salukis, who return home for key matchups with Bradley and Illinois State next week.
"At times, we get down on ourselves when bad things happen," Lowery said. "Today, I think we didn't allow that to happen. I thought our guys played very hard today. The key was the energy and the enthusiasm."
