EDWARDSVILLE, ILL. - For the five seniors on 25th-ranked Southern Illinois University Edwardsville men's basketball team, there was no better way to finish this season's final game at the Vadalabene Center than with a convincing 83-53 win over Bellarmine on Saturday afternoon.
         Kris Crosby's career-high 15 points led four seniors who scored in double figures as three seniors set career-highs in some category.
         SIUE improves to 21-6 overall and 14-4 in the GLVC. It is the first time SIUE has 21 wins in a season since going 21-8 during the 1989-90 campaign. Bellarmine falls to 9-16 overall and 4-14 in the league.
         The Knights jumped to an 11-4 lead with 15:42 to go in the first half, but the Cougars would claw back gaining a lead of 21-20 on a three-pointer by Joel Jaye with 9:43 to go in the first half. SIUE finished off the half with a 22-8 run and never looked back.
         Jaye led the seniors with 17 points on 6 of 11 shooting from the field. Tim Bauersachs scored in double figures for the 17th time this season with 14 points, seven rebounds, and a career-high six assists. Dan Heimos notched 12 points and a career-high seven blocks.
         Freshman J.B. Jones had a career-high 11 assists to go along with six points and eight rebounds. The Cougars shot 58.3 percent from the field and 50 percent from behind the three-point line in the contest.
         SIUE held Bellarmine to 30 percent (18-60) shooting from the field, and the Cougars now have a record of 12-0 when teams shoot less than 40 percent from the field.
         Calvin Fowler and Marcus Flynn each had 11 points to lead Bellarmine in scoring.
         The Cougars outrebounded Bellarmine 40-33.
         SIUE's win marks the most conference wins in a season. The previous best was 12 during the 1997-98 season. The win give the Cougars a 14-1 record at the Vadalabene Center their best record at home since the 1989-90 season.
         The Cougars head to the road for their final two games of the season traveling to take on Inidanapolis on Thursday night at 7:30 before visiting St. Joesph's for the regular season finale at Saturday at 3 p.m.
                  -siue cougars-