Salukis Come Up Short on the Road at Bradley | https://siusalukis.com/
Salukis Come Up Short on the Road at Bradley | https://siusalukis.com/
Salukis Come Up Short on the Road at Bradley
It was a defensive battle all the way through as the Southern Illinois men's basketball fell short on the road at Bradley Wednesday night, falling to the Braves 62-52 inside Carver Arena.
Xavier Johnson and Lance Jones each tallied a team-high 13 points for the Salukis. Jones connected on two of SIU's five shots from behind the arc.
Both teams shot under 45 percent in the game, but the difference was on the offensive glass and turnovers. Southern was outrebounded in the game 35-27 but on the offensive end, Bradley outrebounded SIU 12-4 resulting in nine more shots in the game. The Salukis turned the ball over 13 times leading to 17 BU points.
Trailing by one at the break, Southern Illinois (17-7, 9-4 MVC) opened the second half strong taking an early lead before the Braves answered back once more. The Dawgs took a lead at 46-45 with just over six minutes left before Bradley ended the game on a 17-6 run, forcing three SIU turnovers to close out the game.
Four Braves (16-8, 9-4 MVC) scored in double-digits led by Ja'Shon Henry with 13. The Braves outscored SIU 34-28 in the paint and 10-6 on second-chance points. Reink Mast nearly put up a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds.
It was a battle from the start as Bradley and SIU traded blows throughout the first half of action with neither team leading by more than six points. The Salukis jumped out to an early advantage before the Braves answered with a 9-2 run of their own to take a 16-11 lead fueled by SIU turnovers. BU turned eight Saluki miscues into 11 points in the opening frame while scoring six points off offensive rebounds.
Southern closed out the half with a 5-0 run in the last 90 seconds as Marcus Domask nailed his first field goal of the night with a corner three. Senior Lance Jones corralled an offensive rebound at the end of the half and scored it at the buzzer to pull SIU within one point at 26-25. Seven Salukis scored in the first led by Domask, Jawaun Newton, and Xavier Johnson with five each.
The Salukis shot 9-for-13 from the charity stripe while Bradley was 13-for-17 from the stripe.
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