The Salukis (9-5, 2-0 MVC) travelled to Indiana Saturday night for a conference matchup against the Valparaiso Crusaders (8-8, 1-3 MVC). A late surge made the game close, but SIU managed a stifling defensive effort to hang on for the win.

Highlighting the Salukis by far was junior forward Marcus Domask who led the team in points with 23 and assists with six. Domask also tallied a decent amount of rebounds with seven, just behind team leader junior forward J.D Muila with ten.

A three pointer by Domask started the game off. From then the lead changed eight times before the score was a 10-12 Valparaiso lead. Layups by Domask and Coupet jr gave SIU the lead once again at 14-12. The Crusaders continued to keep it close at an 18-18 score with less than six minutes left, but a 12-2 run for the Salukis gave them a favorable advantage at 30-20 with just over two minutes left of the half. The Salukis ended the first half with a ten point lead at 32-22.

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The second half continued well for the Salukis, with them managing to extend their lead to 14 within the first two minutes at 39-25. However, the Crusaders managed to find a second gear by earning the next nine points for themselves in a 11-2 run to make the score 41-36. Following that huge run for Valparaiso, the Salukis found a second gear of their own to earn the next 10 points in a row in a 12-1 run to make the score 56-40. The Crusaders inched further and further back into the game with a 10-1 run to make it 57-50.

With five minutes left is where things got to be dicey for each team. Each team traded jumpshots over and over again until it was 61-55. Valparaiso earned two points off free throws and then a three point jumper put things within two with just over a minute left at 62-60. The Saluki defense managed to clamp down the last minute and a half to keep the lead while the Salukis won the game 63-60.

The Salukis will continue their season this upcoming Wednesday with another road conference matchup against the Missouri State Bears with a 7 p.m tip-off time.

Sports reporter Joseph Bernard can be reached at [email protected] or on twitter @Jojobernard2001.

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