EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Graduate guard Ray'Sean Taylor became SIUE's career leading scorer in Division I history Thursday as SIUE outlasted Western Illinois 77-66 in front of a season-high crowd of 1,989 Thursday at First Community Arena.
Taylor, who now has 1,558 career points, led the Cougars in scoring with 23 points and added four rebounds and two assists. It was the 28th time in his career that Ray'Sean Taylor has scored at least 20 in a game.
SIUE improved to 8-6 on the year and 1-2 in Ohio Valley Conference play. Western Illinois dropped to 7-7 and 1-2 in the OVC.
SIUE got off to a quick 9-0 run which was followed by a Western Illinois 7-0 run. A Brian Taylor three, a little less than halfway through the first half, made it 21-11 an additional three by Ray'Sean Taylor was part of a 10-0 run for the Cougars.
The Leathernecks were able to cut into the deficit late in the first half, but the Cougars led 42-30 at the break.
SIUE's biggest lead of the game came on a Ray'Sean Taylor layup which made it 51-32. The Leathernecks crawled back to cut the deficit to six on a three-pointer by Marko Maletic with 4:54 left.
The Cougars expanded their lead to 15 with 1:28 left to seal the conference home opener. SIUE never trailed in the game.
Brian Taylor finished with 19 points on 7-9 from the field and 5-6 from behind the three-point arc. The junior guard pulled down two rebounds to go along with three assists.
SIUE shot a season high in both field goal percentage (60 percent) and three-point percentage (62 percent).
The Cougars tallied 27 rebounds led by Ring Malith who finished with eight. SIUE finished with 14 assists and shot 9-14 from the free-throw line
Western Illinois was anchored by Marko Maletic who poured in a season high 28 points on 10-16 shooting from the field and 6-8 from three-point range.
The Leathernecks connected on 44 percent (24-55) of their shots from the field and 44 percent from behind the three-point arc.
Western Illinois grabbed 27 rebounds and assisted on 12 of its baskets.
SIUE will host Lindenwood on Saturday with tip scheduled for 3:30p.m.
