Salukis Fall in Arch Madness Semifinal to No. 2 Draker | https://siusalukis.com/
Salukis Fall in Arch Madness Semifinal to No. 2 Draker | https://siusalukis.com/
Salukis Fall in Arch Madness Semifinal to No. 2 Drake
Southern Illinois men's basketball saw its season come to a close Saturday night in the semifinal round of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. The Salukis fell to the No. 2-seeded Drake Bulldogs, 65-52 at Enterprise Center as Drake moves on to face top-seeded Bradley for the MVC's berth to the NCAA Tournament Sunday afternoon.
Southern Illinois, which had a three-game winning streak snapped, finished the season 23-10. Senior guard Lance Jones led Southern Illinois with 18 points, including 10 in the second half.
Senior forward Marcus Domask, a first-team All-MVC performer for the Salukis, scored just seven points. He did, however, move up to No. 19 on the all-time Saluki rebound list at 564 with his team-high eight boards.
The Salukis started hot, connecting on their first three 3-pointers in the game to jump out to a 9-0 lead. Drake would rally to pull to within two at 15-13 with 10:42 left. Tucker DeVries scored eight points, including back-to-back three-point baskets, to trigger a 17-0 run in a 5:46 span to give Drake a 30-15 lead. Drake made six of seven shots during the surge including four three-point baskets.
Trailing 39-23 at halftime, Southern Illinois used a 13-2 run to open the second half pulling within 41-36 with six points from Jones and four from Clarence Rupert. SIU guard Xavier Johnson picked up his fourth foul with 13:42 left, going to the bench with Salukis trailing 43-40.
But Drake responded with a 15-2 run with five points coming from reserves to push the lead to 58-42 following a basket from Garrett Sturtz.
Drake graduate guard Garrett Sturtz contributed 12 points, his 15th game this year in double figures but the school's career rebounding leader failed to grab a rebound in a game for the first team this season.
Southern Illinois sophomore forward Clarence Rupert scored nine points, outpacing his combined scoring of just seven points in his previous two games against Drake this year. He also had a career-best three steals to go with his four rebounds.
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