Accounting for over half the Saluki’s points tonight, seniors Marcus Domask and Lance Jones led the way for the Dawg’s third win in a row (8-4, 1-1 MVC) over the Cougars of Chicago State (3-10).

Jones and Domask combined for 36 of SIU’s 63 points on the night. Jones led the way with 19 points, with all his field goals coming off threes. Domask trailed behind with the other 17 points, shooting a team-leading 5/11 throughout the game. Domask also shared the lead in rebounds with sophomore Clarence Rupert, with each of them totaling eight.

“Proud of our guys. A different type of week with finals week and having a couple of games. I thought we got better throughout the week. I think we’re a different team tonight than we were two weeks ago and as the season progresses you want to keep getting better and I think that’s positive for our guys,” head coach Bryan Mullins said.

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Coach Mullins said the box score tonight doesn’t really justify how well the execution was for the Salukis tonight.

“I thought we had some good looks. We didn’t shoot the ball as well as we normally do, but I thought we really guarded them. We gave up a couple of easy threes but for the most part to hold a team like that’s averaging 72 the last five games, hold them to 28% field goal percentage, and only 10 points in the paint, it was a team effort,” Mullins said.

The Dawg’s defense did their job tonight, forcing just a 27.5% shooting percentage for the Cougars, the lowest any opponent has had against the Salukis this year. They also forced 11 turnovers on top of it.

The Salukis found themselves in a hole early, with the Cougars nailing two threes right off the bat to give them a 6-2 lead over the Dawgs, but a couple of layups by Domask and a three by Jones turned the tide for the Salukis quickly to give them their first lead. The Cougars made sure to keep things close the rest of the frame, by not letting SIU get more than 6 points ahead of them.

The Cougars did manage to tie things up at 26 after two quick three-pointers, but a shot from behind the arch and a couple of free throws by Jones gave the Salukis their six-point lead heading into the break at 32-26.

Chicago State came roaring back from the intermission, scoring 10 points in the first four minutes of play, and actually took a short lead over the Dawgs at 36-35. Luckily for the Salukis, it wouldn’t last long. By forcing some tough shots for Chicago State and a couple of fouls, the Dawgs were back in the lead for good at 42-36. Chicago State wasn’t able to get shots off like they were early in the second half, and the Salukis downed the Cougars with a 63-52 final score.

A strong defensive effort was needed to keep the Cougars at bay tonight. Junior Dalton Banks said it was all about tightening things down in the second half.

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“After that first media timeout, the discussions within the group were just to tighten things down and get stops. That’s our team’s identity. We can’t let our offense dictate our defense,” Banks said. “We just locked in and got stops and that changed the flow of the game. It was taking pride in guarding the dribble. We just had to man up and keep our guy in front and not get those easy three kicks.”

Banks said the focus defensively switched between halves.

“That first half we really tried to take away the paint, but it was in-game change where we’re taking away the paint, but now we gotta take away the three-point shooters and maybe go home a little earlier and get there to contest. I think that was the big thing for us coming out of halftime and just knowing that they’re getting most of their points from threes, so we had to take that away,” Banks said.

Rupert had his own mission in the second half to aid the Salukis’ efforts once Chicago State earned their brief second-half lead.

“Ball pressure from the guards, me rebounding, the whole team rebounding, getting stops from deflections, and stuff like that definitely caused the win,” Rupert said. 

The Salukis will be back on the road for the first time in 18 days when they play next-door neighbors, Southeastern Missouri State (5-6) this upcoming Wednesday. That game will tip off with a 6:30 pm start time.

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

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