Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
16-3 (5-1MVC)
Drake
5-13 (0-6MVC)
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Illinois | 42 | 39 | 81 |
| Drake University | 31 | 45 | 76 |
Men's Basketball holds off Drake, 81-76
01/17/2016 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
DES MOINES, Iowa - Southern Illinois remained unbeaten on the road this season holding off Drake, 81-76, on Sunday afternoon at the Drake Knapp Center.
The Salukis (16-3, 5-1) improved to 7-0 in road games this season behind a 26-point effort from Anthony Beane -- the league's second-leading scorer. He scored 15 second-half points to spark Southern after it momentarily lost the lead.
The Bulldogs (5-13, 0-6) dropped their sixth-straight game overall and it was their 10th loss in 11 outings. They put a bit of a scare into SIU, though, rallying from a 13-point deficit to take a brief second-half lead.
Beane strapped Southern on his back when the game got close. Drake cut the deficit to 46-40 with 17:25 to go, but Beane nailed a 3-pointer coming out of a timeout. When Drake closed to 52-48, Beane drained another 3-ball. He made a steal and dunk at 11:15, and when Drake came all the way back to pull ahead, 61-59, on a Reed Timmer trey with 9:25, Beane stepped up and stroked another long-range bomb. Drake never led during the final eight minutes.
"Big players make big players at the right time, and Anthony has done that all season long," said SIU head coach Barry Hinson. "Anthony has had games where he shot the ball really bad, but when it came time to make `the' basket he always came through."
Beane was 9-for-22 from the field and 5-of-5 from the line. He added three assists and three steals for good measure.
"It's not one guy, it's your whole defense guarding him," said Drake head coach Ray Giacoletti. "You screw up on a ball screen and you can't recover from it."
After Southern went up by 10, 77-67, with 2:48 to go, the Bulldogs trimmed the lead to 77-73 with 46 seconds remaining, but Southern was able to close out the game at the free throw line, where it was 16-of-20 in the game.
In the first half, the contest was a see-saw battle with the lead changing a dozen times. With four minutes to go in the half, Drake's offense went on a turnover spree. Trailing, 29-28, the Salukis closed the half on a 13-2 run. The scoring burst started with a driving layup by Leo Vincent but also featured seven points by center Bola Olaniyan, who put back a pair of missed shots that included an and-one. He had 11 points and 14 rebounds on the day.
"He's such an emotional player and plays off emotion," Hinson said. "Man, did he just blast off the last three minutes of the first half. Consequently, in the second half he just kept getting rebounds."
Drake had a dozen first-half turnovers but only one in the second half. The Bulldogs ran a crisp second-half offense -- shooting 59 percent from the field to finish at 53 percent for the game. Of their 28 field goals, 17 of them featured assists. Sophomore guard Reed Timmer had a superb game with 27 points and five assists.
"Those 12 turnovers in the first half led to 20 points on run-outs," said Giacoletti. "One turnover in the second half is what changed."
Both teams shot 52 precent from the field, but Southern only made seven turnovers and consequently took five more shots.
Southern received a nice pick-me-up off the bench from Austin Weiher and Vincent. Weiher found a comfortable spot on the left baseline where he hit three first-half jumpers off the penetrate and pitch. He matched his career high with 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting and scored double figures for the second time this season. Vincent added a dozen points and made all six of his free throws.
Three weeks into the conference season, SIU is tied with Evansville for second place in the Missouri Valley Conference, one game behind league leader Wichita State. The Salukis host Indiana State on Wednesday night.
