LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Southern Illinois University Edwardsville men's basketball won its 11th straight game on Thursday, equaling the longest such winning streak in school history, with an 86-70 victory at Bellarmine.
         The Cougars had its other 11-game winning streak during the 1985-86 season. The 12-2 start for SIUE is the best in school history.
         SIUE goes for its best-ever winning streak on Jan. 6 at the Vadalabene Center when it entertains Saint Joseph's. Tip-off time is 7:30 p.m.
         The Cougars also remained the lone team in the Great Lakes Valley Conference with an unblemished league record. SIUE improved to 5-0. Bellarmine falls to 6-5 overall and 2-4 in the GLVC with its first homecourt loss.
         Bellarmine hung in with the Cougars in the first half, trailing by just one point. The Cougars pulled away with a steady second-half performance, holding the Knights to 34.5 percent shooting while shooting better than 65 percent from the field themselves.
         SIUE turned on the pressure in the second half behind Tim Bauersachs' 18 points. Anthony Jones hit all five of his three-point attemmpts and finished with 17 points. Joel Jaye and Justin Ward added 14 and 12 points, respectively. Dan Heimos was SIUE's fifth player in double figures with 10 points.
         The Knights were led by a double-double effort from Nate Sexton, who finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
                  -siue cougars-