EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – SIUE men's basketball opened its 13th Ohio Valley Conference season with a 67-58 win over Eastern Illinois Friday night at First Community Arena.
The Cougars improved to 8-6 overall and won their conference opener for the second time in as many years. Eastern Illinois slipped to 6-8 overall and are 0-1 in the OVC.
"We threw a lot at the guys the last few days," SIUE Head Coach Brian Barone said. "It's hard coming off Christmas break. To switch your mind and to come in here and mentally prepare for a huge conference game at home is not easy to do. They bought in to what we needed to do."
The Cougars opened the game on a 6-0 run and trailed only once in the game.
"We got some stops and we set the tone early," Barone said.
Eastern Illinois' only lead came on the strength of a 7-0 run and was capped off with a Jaylin Gibson layup which made it 16-15 with 8:19 to play before halftime. Brian Taylor's jumper put the Cougars back on top and they never trailed again.
SIUE pushed its lead to 31-21 with a Damarco Minor three-pointer at 2:48. The Cougars led 33-37 at the break.
Eastern Illinois got as close as two points on three separate occasions in the second half, but never could fully close the gap and SIUE knocked down 16 of 19 free throws in the second half to seal the win.
"We ended up getting to the line when we needed to," Barone said. "And then we made them down the stretch."
The Cougars shot 44 percent (19-43) from the field for the game and hit 8-20 (40 percent) three-point attempts. Minor collected his fifth double-double of the year with 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
"I'm just trying to figure myself out," Minor said. "I am still learning. I am trying to be the best player that I can be, because we have big aspirations."
Minor led four Cougars in double figures. Shamar Wright scored 14 points. Terrance Thompson scored a season-high 12 points and Ray'Sean Taylor pitched in 11 points.
SIUE limited Eastern Illinois to just 30 percent (19-62) from the field and 3-14 (21 percent) from three-point range. The Panthers are the ninth team this year that SIUE has held under 70 points.
"The starting five came in with an emphasis on defending as hard as we could," Thompson said. "We were just getting back to our roots really."
Kyndall Davis scored a game-high 23 points to lead EIU.
SIUE remains home to continue conference play Sunday. The Cougars will entertain Western Illinois, which opens its first season in the OVC.
