Box Score EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – SIUE men's basketball ran its home court winning streak to seven games Thursday with a 69-65 win over Austin Peay in Ohio Valley Conference play at Vadalabene Center.
The Cougars improved to 8-10 overall and 4-3 in the OVC. Austin Peay fell to 6-13 and 1-4 in the OVC.
"Our guys played well from a team standpoint," SIUE Head Coach Lennox Forrester said. "They made plays."
Austin Peay opened the game with a reverse alley-oop dunk by Chris Horton and quickly raced out to a 7-0 lead. The Governors pushed their lead to eight points twice during the first eight-plus minutes of the game. Josh Robinson grabbed a steal and then finished with a layup with 11:57 to play before halftime to give APSU a 20-12 lead.
The Cougars then used a 16-3 run to pull ahead 28-23 on a Michael Messer layup with 7:11 to play in the period.
In a game where neither team held a double-digit lead at any point in the game, the Cougars held a three-point advantage (40-37) at the break.
Robinson opened the second half with a three-pointer for Austin Peay to even the score at 40-40. The teams traded blows and the lead 10 times during the second half.
Ed Dyson gave APSU its last lead of the night when he connected on one of two free throws to make it 53-52 Governors with 9:08 to play.
Kris Davis drilled a three-pointer from the right corner to give to put the Cougars back in front for good.
Davis led SIUE with 18 points, including 11 in the second half. The 18 points gave Davis 1,171 for his career and moved the senior into a tie for sixth on the all-time scoring list at SIUE. Kenny Stanley also scored 1,171 points from 1984 to 1987.
Jackson scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds. He finished the night with three emphatic dunks. Jackson also swatted four Austin Peay shots.
"We are going to need that from him every single night," Forrester said of Jackson. "He gave us an inside presence tonight. He's going to have to play that well or better against a team like Murray State. He put together a nice performance tonight."
The two teams combined to score 66 points in the paint with the Cougars edging the Governors 34-32 in that department.
Messer scored seven points, while Rozell Nunn scored six points and added seven rebounds of his own. SIUE also picked up 19 points from its reserves. Jake Newton finished with 10 points and five rebounds. Maurice Wiltz did not score a point but tied his career high with four assists.
The Cougars shot 46.2 percent (24-52) from the field and knocked down 15 of 21 (71.4 percent) from the free throw line. Meanwhile, Austin Peay was just 23-59 (39.7 percent) from the field and 14 for 24 (58.3 percent) at the charity stripe.
Horton collected his 10th double-double of the season for the Govs, scoring 15 points and hauling in 16 rebounds. Robinson scored 17 points to lead Austin Peay. Ed Dyson (15) and Damarius Smith (10) also finished in double figures for the Governors.
"We gave up some easy baskets and didn't pay great attention to the personnel. That's where we can get better," Forrester added. "We still have nine games left, and we have to continue to get better as a basketball team."
SIUE plays host to Murray State Saturday night. Tipoff is set for 7 and will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Midwest.
