EDWARDSVILLE, ILL. - Southern Illinois University Edwardsville gave fourth-ranked Saint Joseph's its first loss of the season, defeating the Pumas 81-72 on Thursday night.
         Anthony Jones led the Cougars will 19 points on 6-of-7 shooting, hitting 6 of 8 shots from the free throw line.
         The Cougars won for the fourth straight time and their sixth time in the last seven games. SIUE improves to 8-3 overall and 2-2 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Pumas drop to 12-1 and 3-1 in the league play.
         The Cougars, who never trailed in the contest, led by as many as nine in the first half. The Pumas cut the lead to 32-27 with 1:03 to go in the half. Mike Hardiek nailed a three-pointer with three seconds left to put SIUE up by eight at the break.
         Saint Joseph's trimmed the Cougars lead to 42-39 with 14:43 left in the contest. Ty Johnson's jumper capped a 15-5 run as the Cougars led 57-44 with 10:01 remaining. The Cougars' lead never fell below seven for the rest of the game.
         SIUE shot 68.2 percent (15-22) in the second half and finished with a 59.6 percent field goal percentage (28-47) for the game. The Cougars held the Pumas to 27.3 percent (9-33) from the field in the first half and 36.9 percent (24-65) during the contest. Saint Joseph's went just 5-23 (21.7 percent) from behind the three-point arch.
         Hardiek tied his career-high with 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting, going 2 for 2 from behind the three-point line and 4 for 4 from the free throw line. Justin Ward had 12 points grabbing five rebounds, and Ty Johnson netted 11.
         GLVC Player of the Week Ryan Belcher tallied 11 points with five assists and four steals. J.B. Jones handed out six assists in the game.
         Both teams had no trouble netting their free throws. The Cougars hit 20 out of 24 (83.3 percent) from the charity stripe, while the Pumas were 19-20 from the line (95 percent).
         Rashad McSwine led all scorers with 20 points on 4-of-12 shooting. Devin Thomas came off the bench to net 14 points, and Derek Fey grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
         The Cougars finish up a five-game homestand as the Greyhounds of Indianapolis visit the Vadalabene Center for a 3 p.m. tipoff.
                  -siue cougars-