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Men's Basketball

SIUE Advances over No. 4 Lakers

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Hardiek
Mike Hardiek


 March 11, 2006


         RENSSLAER, Ind. - Seventeen was the number of the day for the Southern Illinois Univeristy Edwardsville men's basketball team which won its first NCAA Tournament game for the first time in 17 years snapping a 17-game winning streak for fourth-ranked Grand Valley State.
         The Cougars, the No. 7 seed in the Great Lakes Region, defeated the Lakers, the No. 2 seed, 65-61 at Scharf Alumni Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon.
         "I think our guy's prepared and worked hard," said SIUE men's basketball coach Marty Simmons. "It showed out there. I am proud with the way they responded."
         SIUE, which improves to 23-7 overall, moves on to play the No. 6 seed Quincy Sunday at 5 p.m. in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Hawks defeated third-seeded Findlay 74-67. The winner of that game will compete in the Great Lakes Regional Championship Tuesday night at 7:30.
         The Cougars and the Hawks can be heard live Sunday on WSIE 88.7 FM and SIUE's WedRadio at .
         SIUE notches its first win in the NCAA Tournament since defeating Ferris State 102-92 on March 17, 1989. That victory came in the consolation round of the tournament as the Cougars last first round win came on March 7, 1987, in a 88-82 win over Southern Indiana.
         The win over the Lakers, who end their season at 27-4, was the third time this season SIUE has won against a team ranked No. 4 in the country. The Cougars defeated then fourth-ranked Saint Joseph's 81-72 on Jan. 5 and then-No. 4 Southern Indiana 78-77 in overtime on Jan. 14.
         Mike Hardiek led SIUE with 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting as he hit the 20-point mark for the third time this season.
         The Cougars led 12-8 with 14:15 left in the first half. SIUE went on a 16-8 run, capped by a J.B. Jones jumper to lead 28-16. SIUE ended the final 6:10 of the half on a 11-4 run to gain a 38-20 advantage at the break.
         SIUE gained its largest lead of the game 44-23 on Hardiek's jumper with 16:20 left in the second half. Grand Valley State answered with a 19-4 run over the next 9:29 to trim SIUE's lead to 48-42. Hardiek's three-pointer with 5:20 to go gave the Cougars a 55-45 advantage.
         "Mike has hit some big shots all year," said Simmons. "That was a big bucket."
         A three-pointer by Courtney James cut the lead to 63-61 in the closing seconds, but Ty Johnson knocked down two free throws with 2.6 seconds left to seal the win.
         J.B. Jones notched 10 points with five rebounds, five assists, and five steals.
         Nick Arth came off the bench to score nine points. Ty Johnson chipped in eight and Doug Taylor had seven.
         Justin Ward appeared in his 114th game scoring five points for SIUE. Ward sets a new career record for games played at SIUE breaking Tim Bauersachs (01-05) mark of 113.
         The Cougars shot 46.9 percent (23-49) from the field and 30 percent (3-10) from three-point land.
         The Lakers netted 42 percent of their shots from the field and 20 percent (5-25) from beyond the three-point arc.
                  -siue cougars-
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Players Mentioned

Tim Bauersachs

#33 Tim Bauersachs

F
6' 5"
Senior
Nick Arth

#33 Nick Arth

F
6' 6"
Freshman
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
Doug Taylor

#55 Doug Taylor

C
6' 9"
Sophomore
Justin Ward

#50 Justin Ward

F
6' 6"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Tim Bauersachs

#33 Tim Bauersachs

6' 5"
Senior
F
Nick Arth

#33 Nick Arth

6' 6"
Freshman
F
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
Doug Taylor

#55 Doug Taylor

6' 9"
Sophomore
C
Justin Ward

#50 Justin Ward

6' 6"
Senior
F