EDWARDSVILLE, ILL. - Southern Illinois University Edwardsville won for the fourth time in its last five games defeating Mesa State 82-53 on Thursday night.
         Ty Johnson led all scorers with 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting and netting 7 for 7 from the free throw line.
         The Cougars trailed 10-4 with 16:53 left in the first half, then SIUE went on a 32-6 run over the next 10:21 to take a 18-point lead. The Cougars led 48-29 at the break and never looked back.
         SIUE ran its overall mark to 6-3 as the Mavericks fall to 7-3 on the year.
         The Cougars shot 49 percent (27-55) from the field while holding Mesa State to 39 percent (16-41) in the contest.
         J.B. Jones netted 15 points adding four assists and hitting 7 of 8 free throws. Jones missed the first free throw of the game and the Cougars would make 22 straight after that shooting 95.7 percent (22-23) from the charity stripe on the night.
         Anthony Jones chipped in 11 points going 3 for 5 from behind the three-point arc. Ryan Belcher also scored 11 points with five steals and four rebounds.
         Justin Ward and Mike Hardiek each had nine points. Ward notched a new career-high with four steals.
         The Cougars scored 32 points off the Mavericks' 23 turnovers.
         Andy Classick led Mesa State with 13 points and Kurt Bangle came off the bench to score 12 points in the second half.
         The Cougars will be back in action Saturday night for a New Year's Eve matchup with Saginaw Valley State at 7.
                  -siue cougars-