SIU Men’s Basketball Sputters vs Southern Indiana

By Joseph Bernard, Sports Editor|November 13, 2022

Steven Verplancken Jr. (22) dribbles past the opponents to setup a way to score during the SIU vs Northern Iowa basketball game Jan. 31, 2021, at the SIU Bantera Center in Carbondale, Ill. Subash Kharel | @pics.leaks

Coming off a big road win against Oklahoma State just days ago, SIU Men’s Basketball (2-1) dropped their first game of the season to Southern Indiana (1-1) Sunday afternoon 71-53.

It was poor shooting that led to the dawg’s downfall on Sunday, with a team shooting percentage of only 32.8%. Three players led the way in points with double-digit performances. Seniors Marcus Domask (16), Lance Jones (13), and Xavier Johnson (10) accounted for almost three-quarters of the Salukis’ offense on the day. Domask also led in rebounds with seven, while Johnson led in assists (4) and blocks (3).

The dawgs actually stayed competitive throughout the first half, making for 16 different ties or lead changes throughout. A three-pointer by junior Dalton banks gave SIU their first lead of the day at 7-6 and another three by Jones would do the same with just under seven minutes to go at 16-15. Three minutes later senior Jawaun Newton would give SIU their biggest lead of the day with his three-pointer to make it 24-21 before the Eagles would go on a 7-2 run to take a 28-26 lead into the locker room.

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The second half was one to forget for Southern. The Eagles went on a 22-8 run to go up 16 points on the Dawgs to start the half and they never backed down from there. The Salukis did manage to get within seven once more thanks to a jump shot by Domask with less than five to go, but that’s as far as the comeback would go this time, as the Salukis would go down by 18 points with a 71-53 final score.

The 71 points allowed by the Dawgs marks the third most points scored against the Salukis dating all the way to the beginning of last season.

The Salukis will look to get back in the win column when they host the SoCal Challenge on Thursday night. They’ll play Tennessee State (2-0) at 7 pm back in the Banterra Center.

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

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