EDWARDSVILLE, ILL. - Southern Illinois University Edwardsville won its seventh straight game, it longest such winning streak in 15 seasons, defeating a pesky Blackburn team 54-44 in men's basketball action Wednesday night at the Vadalabene Center.
         Dan Heimos netted a career-high 18 points as he was one rebound shy of finishing with a double-double. SIUE improves to 8-2 with their longest winning streak since the 1989-90 season when they won eight straight.
         The Cougars had a 25-21 lead at halftime and led by five points when Anthony Jones hit the first three-pointer for SIUE on the night to increase the margin to 37-29 with 12:56 to go. SIUE never looked back picking up their 11th straight win at the Vadalabene Center dating back to last season. Blackburn falls to 5-3 on the season.
         Freshman J.B. Jones had a career-high 12 points adding seven assists.
         SIUE outscored the Beavers 32-8 in the paint as the Cougars shot 46.5 percent for the game. It was the second time this season the Cougars have held an opponent under 50 points. Blackburn made 16 field goals in the game, eight of those were three-pointers shooting
         Luke Djedovic led Blackburn with 18 points and eight boards. The Beavers outrebouned the Cougars 33-31.
         SIUE travels to Northern Kentucky on Saturday as they get back into Great Lakes Valley Conference action against the Norse at 3:15 p.m.
                  -siue cougars-