January 22, 2004

         OWENSBORO, Ky. - Eric Freeman scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds off the bench to lift Kentucky Wesleyan over Southern Illinois University Edwardsville 77-64 in men's college basketball action Thursday night.
         SIUE, 9-8 overall and 5-6 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, couldn't match KWC's 56.5 percent shooting in the second half nor its bench which accounted for 41 points.
         Kentucky Wesleyan, 9-5 overall and 6-4 in the GLVC, held just a three-point lead at halftime at 35-32. KWC outscored the Cougars 20-9 to start the second half and did not falter down the stretch.
         SIUE picked up 21 points from Joel Jaye while Ron Jones scored 15 points to continue his season-long string of double-digit scoring performances. The Cougars handled the ball well, committing just 13 turnovers.
         KWC, meanwhile, kept SIUE off the free throw line as SIUE had just three attempts from the charity stripe, all in the second half.
         Dontae Truitt followed Freeman in scoring with a 19-point effort for KWC. La-Troy Farrow added 11 points off the bench.
         The Cougars now head to Evansville, Ind., for a 3 p.m. contest on Saturday against rival Southern Indiana.
                -siue cougars-