Sangamon Sun

Cougars Stun Billikens to Conclude Nonconference Play

SIUE men's basketball erased an 18-point second half deficit to score a signature win, knocking off Saint Louis 69-67 at Chaifetz Arena Wednesday night.

The win is just the second for SIUE in its series with Saint Louis and the first since December 1982.

The Cougars improved to 9-4, setting a new high water mark for nonconference wins at the Division I level. The 9-4 start is the best for SIUE since the 2006-07 team also started 9-4.

"It's a really good group of guys who care about one another," SIUE Head Coach Brian Barone said. "They care. They love. It's pretty cool how we battled. We did it the right way."

A running layup by Ray'Sean Taylor with 30 seconds to play gave SIUE a 68-67 lead. On the ensuing possession, SLU's Francis Okoro was called for an offensive foul turning the ball back over to SIUE. Taylor was fouled with 12 seconds to play and knocked down one of two free throws.

"Ray was frustrated in the first half," Barone said. "I challenged him at halftime, and he went out there and ran the team."

The Billikens missed three shots in the waning seconds. Saint Louis was held without a field goal for the game's final 3:10.

Taylor finished with 12 points, including nine in the second half. He was 6 for 8 at the free throw line.

The Cougars and Billikens played tight through much of the first half and SIUE was within one at 21-20 following a Shamar Wright free throw with 5:43 to play before halftime, but the Cougars went cold.

SIUE went 1-14 from the field to finish the first half, while Saint Louis used a 12-2 run to take a 33-22 lead into the break.

The Cougars responded after break going on an 8-0 run with five points from Lamar Wright and a three-pointer from Damarco Minor to cut the lead to 33-30 forcing Saint Louis into a timeout with 17:50 to play in the game.

"It was 33-22 at halftime and we didn't show anybody what we were about, but we held them to 33 points," said Barone. "(The team) understood we were better than that and they came out in the second half and they responded."

A 22-7 run by the Billikens gave them a lead of 55-37 with 11:06 to play. From there, the Cougars whittled the lead down until DeeJuan Pruitt tied the game at 66 with a pair of free throws with 1:06 to play. A Yuri Collins free throw made it 67-66 before Taylor put the Cougars on top.

"How about Jalen Hodge?" Barone said. "And Desmond Polk changed the game defensively."

Pruitt finished with a career-high 21 points to lead the Cougars. Pruitt 7 of 13 overall and 6 for 8 at the free throw line.

"DeeJuan Pruitt… Holy Cow," Barone exclaimed.

Lamar Wright scored 13 points, all in the second half. He was 5 for 6 overall and hit all three attempts from three-point range.

Minor added 12 points and Shamar Wright hauled in a career-high 12 rebounds.

SIUE was 13-27 (48 percent) from the field in the second half and 7-10 from three-point range after missing all nine attempts from long range in the first half.

The Cougars turned the ball over just twice in the second half after committing seven in the first. SIUE forced SLU into six second-half turnovers.

"The dog we had in us," Barone said. "We were diving on loose balls."

Perkins scored 23 points to lead Saint Louis who dipped to 8-5.

SIUE will open Ohio Valley Conference play with Tennessee Tech December 29 at First Community Arena.

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