NORMAL, Ill. – The Southern Illinois men’s basketball team rallied from a 16-point second-half deficit to take the lead, but Illinois State’s Phil Fayne hit one of two free throws with 5.7 seconds remaining to give the Redbirds a 59-58 win over SIU on Tuesday night at Redbird Arena.
The Salukis (9-9, 2-3 MVC) committed 13 first-half turnovers, and Illinois State hit eight of its last 10 shots in the first half to take a 35-27 lead into the break. The Redbirds (10-8, 3-2 MVC) took that momentum into the second half and built a 45-29 lead with 16:27 to go.
Illinois State held a 49-34 lead with 12:55 to go when suddenly the momentum of the game completely flipped. Marcus Bartley hit a 3-pointer to ignite an 18-0 SIU run that gave the Salukis a 52-49 lead. Bartley hit another trey—his third 3-pointer in a 21-2 run—to give SIU a 55-51 lead with 4:25 to play, but SIU would not make a field goal for the remainder of the game.
“We started defending,” SIU head coach Barry Hinson said. “All of the sudden, we had one segment where we had four stops in a row. On the offensive end, we were sharing the basketball. And quite frankly, we did not turn the ball over in the second half.”
SIU had only five turnovers in the second half and limited Illinois State to 25 percent from the field after intermission. Illinois State responded to SIU’s 21-2 run with a 7-0 run of its own to take a 58-55 lead with 1:42 remaining. Aaron Cook hit a free throw; SIU got a stop; and Eric McGill hit two clutch free throws to tie the game with 33 seconds to play. Illinois State held for the last shot and slipped a pass to Fayne, who hit the second of two free throws to give the Redbirds a 59-58 lead with 5.7 seconds remaining.
After three timeouts, SIU got the ball in cleanly on the inbounds and passed ahead to Eric McGill going towards the basket, but McGill got caught in the air trying to pass and misfired on a pass as the clock expired.
“We will get better defensively,” Hinson said. “One of the things that will help us from tonight, when we go back and look at the film, is that when you play that hard, you put yourself in a position to win ball games.”
SIU held ISU scoreless for more than six minutes during the momentum-flipping 18-0 run in the middle of the second half. Armon Fletcher led the Salukis with 17 points and nine rebounds. Eric McGill had 10 points.
Southern Illinois has lost three-straight in the MVC after starting league play 2-0. The Salukis are off until Sunday, when Bradley comes to SIU Arena.
“We go home now for two home games,” Hinson said. “We’re exactly where we were last year; we just have to find a way to turn it.”
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