Men’s Basketball Second half comeback falls short against Northern Iowa

By Joseph Bernard, Staff Reporter
February 10, 2022

After getting back in the win column Saturday against the Redbirds, the same couldn’t be done on the road last night against Northern Iowa for the Salukis as the Men’s basketball team lost 44-53.

Highlighting the Salukis was point guard Lance Jones, who was the only Saluki on the night to reach double-digits in points with 13. Jones also tallied three steals off 36 minutes of play. Junior forward Marcus Domask was second in points with nine while leading in assists with four. Senior guard Ben Coupet jr was the leader in rebounds with eight off 33 minutes of playtime.

A three-pointer for the Panthers started the game off, but Coupet responded with a three of his own. From there the Panthers scored the next 12 points in a row to take a 15-3 lead midway through the first half. It went back and forth for a while until the Salukis started to get some momentum going. A Kyler Filewich layup started a 10 point run for the Salukis to get them within four, but UNI finished strong on the first half and went into the locker room up seven at 26-19.

SIU got things within three points after a J.D Muila layup and a Steven Verplancken jump-shot in the paint. But UNI kept going strong and held that lead. At 33-26, layups by Marcus Domask and Dalton Banks got things within three yet again to set up a Marcus Domask three that tied things up at 33-all.

Two possessions later, SIU actually ended up taking the lead after a Trent Brown three-pointer at 36-35. However, a 7-0 run for UNI got them back in the lead quickly at 42-36. Some quick shot attempts for the Salukis got it back within three at 44-41 then at 47-44. But the Salukis would fail to make another basket from here on out and the Panthers took the win at home over the Salukis with a 53-44 final score.

The Salukis will look to get back to .500 for their winning percentage when they come home to face the Evansville Aces Saturday night with a 7 p.m first tip.

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

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