EDWARDSVILLE, ILL. - The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville men's basketball team ended 2005 with a 69-50 win over Saginaw Valley State on Saturday night at the Vadalabene Center.
         Senior Ryan Belcher sparked the Cougars with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting as five players netted double figures. Belcher had a career-high eight steals adding four rebounds and four assists, and he is now averaging 3.8 steals per game.
         SIUE has won for the fifth time in its last six games as the Cougars improve to 7-3 on the season. The Cardinals fall to 4-9 on the season.
         Neither team could gain more than three point lead through the first 15 minutes of the contest. SIUE led 21-20 with 5:40 to go in the first half as the Cougars closed out the half on a 11-2 run to go into the locker room with a 10-point advantage.
         A three-pointer by the Cardinals' Sydney McDaniel trimmed SIUE's lead to 38-33 with 14:00 remaining in the second half. Belcher's jumper with 5:30 to go in the game capped a 23-7 run by SIUE as the Cougars led 61-40 for their largest led of the game.
         Doug Taylor netted 13 points grabbing six rebounds. J.B. Jones and Ty Johnson also tallied 13 points. Jones was 5 of 8 from the field and Johnson connected on 5 of 9 of his shots. Senior Justin Ward added 10 points and five rebounds off the bench.
         The Cougars forced 23 turnovers for the second consecutive game scoring 25 points off of those turnovers.
         SIUE shot 47.4 percent (27-57) in the contest and the Cardinals netted 40.4 percent (21-52) of their shots.
         Andrae Betts led the Saginaw Valley with 11 points and Luke Laser netted 10 points. Alex Daniel grabbed nine rebounds for the Cardinals.
         The Cougars will continue Great Lakes Valley Conference play as the fourth-ranked and undefeated Saint Joseph's Pumas visit the Vadalabene Center Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
                  -siue cougars-