Nov. 15, 2009

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EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Illinois State jumped ahead by 21 at halftime and picked up an 82-60 victory over Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in men's college basketball.

A crowd of 3,652, the largest attendance at the Vadalabene Center for more than 25 years, watched four SIUE players score in double figures led by 14 from Mark Yelovich.

"I thought our guys battled a little bit better the second half," SIUE Coach Lennox Forrester said. SIUE improved its shooting from 34 percent in the first half to 48 percent in the second half.

Illinois State led 43-22 at halftime, but the Cougars chipped away at the lead in the second half. SIUE cut the lead to 14 with 11:15 to play on a three-pointer by Aamir McCleary.

Illinois State muscled its way to nearly 52 percent shooting behind the play of Osiris Eldridge, who led all scorers with 19 points. Five ISU players overall scored in double figures. Tony Lewis picked up a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Forrester said despite the 19 points from Eldridge, he thought that Stephen Jones and LeShaun Murphy did a good job of containing him. Eldridge added four assists while shooting 7 of 12 from the field.

"Coming out of the gate, we played two good teams (Illinois and Illinois State). I like the way our guys are competing and getting after it. A couple of things here and there; I think we're going to get better. We just have to stick together as a team." said Forrester.

Next up for the Cougars is the second straight Missouri Valley Conference team on the schedule. SIUE travels to Evansville Wednesday for a 7 p.m. contest.

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