Sangamon Sun

Cougar Comeback Falls Short

A furious comeback fell short for SIUE Thursday in a 79-74 loss to Little Rock at First Community Arena.

The Cougars have dropped four in a row and slipped to 8-9 in Ohio Valley Conference play. SIUE is 17-13 overall. Little Rock improved to 6-11 in the OVC and 10-20 overall.

"We haven't had a lot of success the last couple of weeks," Brian Barone said. "We are team that has done historical things, cares about each other and who wants its so badly. It is awesome to see the support from the community and that they want it as well."

The Trojans led 73-63 with 4:13 to play before SIUE reeled off the next eight points. The Cougars had the lead down to two after a pair of free throws form Damarco Minor made it 73-71 with 1:55 to play.

Following a Little Rock miss, SIUE had the ball back with a chance to tie or take the lead when Ray'Sean Taylor was blocked going to the rim. The ball glanced off his leg before going out of bounds to give possession back to Little Rock.

The Cougars never got any closer. Taylor made it 77-74 with a three-pointer with two seconds left before Little Rock sealed the win with a pair of free throws.

Taylor finished with a game-high 21 points, with 18 points coming in the second half. Taylor was 7-9 overall during the second half and 5-5 for three-point range.  

The Cougars trailed 40-32 at halftime thanks to shooting just 36 percent (10-28) from the field in the first half. SIUE missed all six attempts from three-point range. Little Rock used an 8-0 run over the last 1:45 of the period to take the halftime lead.

SIUE connected on 56 percent (14-25) of its shots in the second half, including going 7-8 from three-point range. The Cougars finished at 45 percent (24-53) overall and 7-14 from three. SIUE was 19-27 (70 percent) and the free throw line.

DeeJuan Pruitt and Shamar Wright each finished with 13 points for the Cougars. Wright scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half. Minor scored eight points and added nine rebounds.

"It was nice to see Ray and Shamar have the ball go in in that second half," Barone said.

Little Rock hit 28-56 shots from the field and was 4-13 from long range. The Trojans were 19-25 from the line.

Five Little Rock players scored in double figures. CJ White led the Trojans with 19 points. Myron Gardner collected his 15th double-double of the year with 12 points and 11 rebounds. DeAntoni Gordon scored 14 points and Isaiah Palermo and D.J. Smith each scored 11 points.

SIUE will conclude the regular season Saturday at First Community Arena with a 3:30 tip against Southeast Missouri before heading the OVC Tournament in Evansville, Indiana beginning Wednesday.

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