Southern Illinois University Edwardsville men's basketball team remains in the thick of a tight Great Lakes Valley Conference race that will come down to the wire. The Cougars are 18-5 overall and 11-3 in conference action, one game behind Southern Indiana for first place.
         "This is a tough league," said SIUE coach Marty Simmons. "The neat thing about this is that with six games to go we are competing for a championship."
         SIUE continues a four-game road trip this week, traveling to battle Quincy on Thursday and Missouri-St. Louis on Saturday. The Quincy Hawks have won four games in a row and seven of their last nine contests.
         "They are a balanced team," said Simmons. "They are shooting the ball extremely well right now, and they are as hot as any team in the league. It's going to be a tough test."
         The Cougars continue to build around a solid defense, giving up a GLVC-leading 60.6 points per game.
         Senior Dan Heimos (Waterloo) is one of the reasons for SIUE's strong defense. Heimos, who transferred from the University of Nebraska after his sophomore season, became SIUE's all-time blocks leader with 104 blocks in his career.
         "For a guy to set a record at a four-year school only being here two years, is quite an accomplishment," said Simmons. "Dan is a very intelligent basketball player. He's got good anticipation and good timing. I am really happy for Dan."
         Heimos' abilities are not limited to the defensive end as he ranks second in GLVC field goal percentage (65.2) and leads SIUE in rebounding at 6.7 boards a game.
         J.B. Jones (Belleville) continues to show why he should be considered for GLVC Freshman of the Year. Jones notched 46 points in two games over the weekend, scoring 24 in the win over UW-Parkside this past Thursday. Jones hit the game-winning shot with two seconds left and was a perfect 9 of 9 from the free throw line.
         "J.B. was just outstanding down the stretch at the free throw line and making big shots," said Simmons.
         The Cougars will be at Pepsi Arena in Quincy on Thursday night before visiting the Mark Twain Center and Missouri-St. Louis on Saturday night. Both games tip off at 7:30 p.m.
                  -siue cougars-