SIUE TO Face NKU in GLVC Tourney Opener

Box Score

February 25, 2006

         EDWARDSVILLE, ILL. - No. 11-ranked Southern Illinois University Edwardsville men's basketball had an outright Great Lakes Valley Conference West Division crown within its grasp.
         The Drury Panthers, however, held off the Cougars 58-56 at the Vadalabene Center. With the rest of play from around the league, Quincy, Drury, SIUE and Southern Indiana all finished with a 14-5 record in league play to share the GLVC West.
         By the league's tiebreaker system, SIUE fell to the No. 3 seed in the West. Quincy was first followed by Drury in second. Southern Indiana grabbed a wild card berth as one of the two teams in the league with the next best record following the top three in the division.
         SIUE will play Northern Kentucky, 17-10 overall, at noon on Friday at Roberts Stadium in Evansville, Ind. Northern Kentucky, which took a 68-59 loss at the Vadalabene Center on Feb. 2, finished as the second seed in the East Division.
         The other GLVC Tournament games in bracket order will be Quincy vs. UW-Parkside at 2:30 p.m., Drury vs. Bellarmine at 6 p.m. and Southern Indiana vs. Saint Joseph's at 8:30 p.m.
         On Saturday, SIUE lead early by eight points but had its lead evaporate to a two-point deficit on a Josh Wemlinger shot at the halftime buzzer. Drury led 35-33 behind a 12-2 run to end the half.
         SIUE shot 37 percent from the field for the game and was down by as much as 10 points in the second half. The Cougars clawed back and took the lead 56-55 on a steal and layup by Justin Ward with 4:28 to play.
         Ward's shot would be the final field goal of the game as SIUE missed its final four shots and two free throws of the contest.
         Brandon Kimbrough scored a pair of free throws with 2:16 left to give Drury the lead for good. Collins Harris made the back end of a two shot free throw with 33 seconds left.
         Ryan Belcher led the Cougars in scoring with 12 points. Harris led Drury with 16 points.
                  -siue cougars-

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Players Mentioned

#10 Ryan Belcher: G; 6' 3"; Senior

#50 Justin Ward: F; 6' 6"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#10 Ryan Belcher
: 6' 3"; Senior
: G

#50 Justin Ward
: 6' 6"; Senior
: F

Players Mentioned

#10 Ryan Belcher

#50 Justin Ward

Players Mentioned

#10 Ryan Belcher

#50 Justin Ward