The Missouri Southern men’s basketball team forced 34 Southern Illinois turnovers tonight and outscored SIU 32-31 in the second half, but a 51-27 halftime lead for the Salukis was too much for Southern as SIU defeated the Lions, 82-59 in front of 4800 fans tonight in Carbondale.
Skyler Bowlin scored the game’s first points as the sophomore pulled up and drained a three pointer from the left wing just seven seconds into the game. The Salukis made it 3-2 after a bucket from Carlton Fay and tied it after he completed the three point play. Two more free throws from Fay gave SIU a 5-3 lead and the Salukis would not trail from that point on in the half.
The Salukis opened up a 22-9 lead after a jumper from Justin Bocot and led by 14 (27-13) after a three from Fay. Southern pulled to within six (31-25) after another three from Bowlin, but that would be as close as the Lions got as SIU used a tip in as the clock expired to make the halftime score 51-27.
SIU shot 50 percent from the field in the half, led by 17 points from Fay on 6-7 shooting from the field. The Salukis out rebounded the Lions 51-27 in the half. Bowlin had 11 points in the first half, going a perfect 3-3 from long range.
The Lions cut the Salukis lead to 15 after a jumper from DaRell Crittendon with 7:42 left in the half, but SIU went on an 8-0 run to bring the lead up to 23 (71-48). That would be the final deficit as the Salukis used their first half advantage to cruise to the win
Bowlin led all scorers with 18 points on 6-7 shooting from the field and 4-7 from long range. Tony Webb and Vincent Ateba scored 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The Lions will be back in action a week from tomorrow when they travel to Columbia to take on the Missouri Tigers at 7 pm from Mizzou Arena.
Story and photo courtesy of Missouri Southern Athletics
