MACOMB, Ill. – SIUE men's basketball erased a 14-point deficit late to roar back for a 66-61 win Monday at Western Illinois for their first Ohio Valley Conference win of the year.

The Cougars trailed at half and fell behind 51-37 with 8:44 to play, before surging back. Propelled by a 16-19 performance at the free throw line in the second half, SIUE finished the game on a 29-10 run.

SIUE improved to 8-5 overall and 1-1 in the OVC. Western Illinois fell to 4-8 overall and 0-2 in the OVC. SIUE has now won three straight in the series with the Leathernecks.

The Cougars opened the game on a 9-2 run, but Western Illinois responded with a 15-3 run from there to take a 17-12 lead.  The teams traded leads three more times before a Jordan Pickett running layup made it 18-17 SIUE with 6:10 to play before half.

A Jo Valrie three-pointer made it 22-21 SIUE before another Leathernecks run. A quick 7-0 burst gave WIU its largest lead of the half at 28-22 after an Antwaun Massey three-pointer with 45 seconds left. A CJ Hall jumper cut the lead to 28-24 at halftime.

Jack Campion drained a deep straight-away three-pointer with 2:00 to play to tie the score at 60 and SIUE never trailed again. Two free throws by Valrie put SIUE up 62-60. Two more from Malith to make it 64-60 with 1:16 left.

Malith led all scorers with 24 points. It was the fifth 20-point game of his season. He led the Cougars with six rebounds and finished the game 7-7 at the free throw line.

Valrie and Campion each scored nine. Campion added five assists.

Lucas Lorenzen led Western Illinois with 19 points, all of which came after halftime.

SIUE will return to First Community Arena for a New Year's Day date with Southern Indiana. It is the second half of a doubleheader with the Cougar women. The men's contest is scheduled to tipoff at 3:30 p.m.