CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southern Illinois men’s basketball put on a show to open the New Year, defeating Belmont 63-45 in front of an energized Banterra Center crowd and a national television audience to win its sixth-straight game. The 7,119 fans in attendance marked the largest home crowd in seven seasons.
“The crowd, the atmosphere – it’s a special place is what I told the guys after the game,” head coach Bryan Mullins said. “To have the community come out and support us like that I really appreciate it.”
“For our guys to weather the first half and come out and play the way they did, I’m just happy for them,” Mullins noted. “It started with our defense in the second half getting stops and some steals to be able to push it in transition. We attacked the paint a little better in the second half and it’s really a complete team effort.”
The Southern Illinois (11-4, 3-1 MVC) defense put on a show in the second half, holding the high-powered Bruins offense to just seven points over the final 15 minutes of the game. Belmont (9-6, 2-2 MVC) entered play averaging 76.1 points per game and shooting 41.4 percent from behind the arc – the best in the MVC.
The Salukis held BU to 32.7 percent from the field and just four 3-pointers (4-22) over the course of the game. Belmont shot just 25 percent (6-for-24) in the second half of play.
“Our guys didn’t let up (defensively) in the second half. It was a team effort because guys were helping each other when someone got beat or switched off,” Mullins said. “That’s a tough team to guard because they play with such great pace. I think overall we did a good job of being consistent and to play defense like that over 40 minutes, it takes a lot of effort.”
Senior forward Marcus Domask had 14 points, four rebounds and five assists in the game, keeping the Salukis within striking distance in the first 20 minutes as the Salukis trailed going into the locker room by five points. After the Bruins scored six points early in the second half, SIU went to work, turning BU over nine times leading to a 35-11 run to close out the game.
Lance Jones got the crowd going in the second half, scoring 13 of his 16 points in the final 20 minutes including several tough finishes in the lane. Southern was able to swipe the ball away from the Bruins nine times in the game, leading to 17 points off the Belmont miscues.
The defensive duo of Clarence Rupert and JD Muila wreaked havoc on the Bruins in the paint. Rupert tied a career-high with three blocks in the game to go along with his nine points and five rebounds. Muila was dominant on the glass, leading all Salukis with nine rebounds.
Southern finished the game shooting 46.4 percent (25-56) while going 16-for-31 (51.6 percent) in the second half alone. All four of SIU’s makes from deep came in the final 20 minutes after going 0-for-10 in the opening half.
Xavier Johnson seven of his nine points in the second half while also dishing out a trio of assists.
The Salukis dominated the paint, outscoring the Bruins 44-16 near the basket while also winning the battle on the boards 36-33.
UP NEXT
Southern Illinois host MVC Preseason favorite Drake Wednesday night at Banterra Center with tipoff set for 7 p.m. Tickets start as low as $6 in the Dawg Pound by using the Promo Code “SIX”. Visit SIUSalukis.com/Promos to purchase your tickets now.
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