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Cougars Win Battle Of No. 10's

Box Score
J.B. Jones
J.B. Jones



 February 18, 2006


         EDWARDSVILLE -- Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and Southern Indiana entered Saturday's contest both ranked No. 10 in the nation, but it was the Cougars who came away victorious.
         The Cougars defeated the Screaming Eagles 67-63 in Great Lakes Valley Conference men's action at the Vadalabene Center Saturday.
         SIUE sweeps the season series with the Screaming Eagles for the first time since the 1974-75 season. It marks the first time the Cougars have swept the season series since joining the Great Lakes Valley Conference in 1995-96.
         The Cougars are now 21-4 overall and 14-3 in the conference. Southern Indiana drops to 23-5 overall and 12-5 in the league.
         SIUE sits in first place in the GLVC West Division, one game ahead of Drury and two games in front of Southern Indiana and Quincy.
         The Cougars finish out the regular season at home next weekend when they host Rockurst at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Drury at 3 on Saturday afternoon.
         Southern Indiana took advantage of a cold-shooting Cougar team in the first half as a Melvin Hall three-pointer gave USI a 17-6 lead with 9:39 left. The Screaming Eagles led 29-17 with 4:10 remaining in the first half, before SIUE answered with a 10-1 run to cut the advantage to 30-29 at the halftime.
         The teams battled back and forth in the second half in front of a crowd of 1,663 at the Vadalabene Center. The teams were tied 42-42 with 12:28 to go in the game, then the Cougars went on a 13-4 run that was capped by a pair of Justin Ward free throw as SIUE led 56-46 with 6:30 left.
         Southern Indiana battled as Chris Thompson netted a pair of free throws to end a 15-5 USI run to tie the game at 61-61 with 1:10 left. Mike Hardiek's jumper of the glass put the Cougars up 63-61 with :51 remaining. Ryan Belcher hit 4 of 6 three throws in the final minute to seal the win.
         J.B. Jones led SIUE with 21 points, going 8 for 12 from the free throw line. Ward had 12 points as he was perfect from the field (4-4), three-point line (2-2), and free throw line (4-4). Ty Johnson netted 11 points going 3 for 6 from behind the three point line. Belcher notched eight points, adding seven rebounds, four assists, and four steals.
         Freshman Nick Arth had five points as he and Mike Hardiek held Southern Indiana's Chris Thompson to four points in the game.
         The Cougars shot just 33 percent from the field in the first half, rebounding to net 50 percent of their shots in the second half, shooting 40 percent (19-47) for the game. SIUE netted 50 percent (7-14) of its shots from behind the three-point line.
         Southern Indiana shot 48 percent (24-50) from the field and 28.6 percent from beyond the three-point line.
         Keith Christmas netted a team-high 12 points for USI. David Bryant chipped in 10. Thompson and Marty Wise each had nine rebounds as the Screaming Eagles outrebounded the Cougars 38-23.
                  -siue cougars-
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Players Mentioned

Nick Arth

#33 Nick Arth

F
6' 6"
Freshman
Ryan Belcher

#10 Ryan Belcher

G
6' 3"
Senior
Mike Hardiek

#34 Mike Hardiek

F
6' 7"
Junior
Ty Johnson

#3 Ty Johnson

G
5' 11"
Junior
J.B. Jones

#22 J.B. Jones

G
6' 2"
Sophomore
Justin Ward

#50 Justin Ward

F
6' 6"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Nick Arth

#33 Nick Arth

6' 6"
Freshman
F
Ryan Belcher

#10 Ryan Belcher

6' 3"
Senior
G
Mike Hardiek

#34 Mike Hardiek

6' 7"
Junior
F
Ty Johnson

#3 Ty Johnson

5' 11"
Junior
G
J.B. Jones

#22 J.B. Jones

6' 2"
Sophomore
G
Justin Ward

#50 Justin Ward

6' 6"
Senior
F