CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Career nights by Arnas Sakenis and Tyler King and a dominant first half propelled SIUE men's basketball to a 68-55 win at Southeast Missouri State Saturday.

SIUE improved to 4-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference and 11-8 overall. SEMO dropped to 9-10 overall and 4-4 in the OVC.

The win is the first for the Cougars on the road at Southeast Missouri since January 2019.

Sakenis finished with a career-high 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting. He grabbed a team-best eight rebounds, blocked three shots and finished with two steals. King scored a career-best 16 points. He was 5-10 from the field and 3-5 from three-point range. Darrion Baker added 13 points for the Cougars. He was 3-4 from long range. Jack Campion scored nine points and added six assists and four steals.

The Cougars used a stifling defense in the first half to limit the Redhawks to just two field goals in their first 14 attempts.

SIUE, meanwhile, had a double-digit lead eight minutes into the game and extended the advantage out 23 on two different occasions. The Cougars led 43-21 at halftime. SIUE Shot 50 percent (14-28) overall and 64 percent (7-11) from three-point range in the first half.

The Cougars' lead swelled to as many as 26 in the second half following a dunk from Sakenis with 11 minutes to play.

The Cougars finished 24-51 (47 percent) overall shooting. SIUE finished with 26 points in the paint and outrebounded SEMO 31-25.

Luke Almodovar scored 14 points to lead Southeast Missouri.

The Cougars return to First Community Arena for a pair of games. SIUE will play host to Tennessee State Thursday in a game that will air nationally on ESPNU. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m.