The SIU men’s basketball team was nothing short of perfection down the stretch.
Kennard Davis Jr.. helped complete the comeback when he hit a three with 1:54 left to play. Valparaiso tied it back up and forced a loose ball, but Jarrett Hensley recovered the ball and slammed it home to take a 71-69 lead that the Salukis wouldn’t relinquish.
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Sheridan Sharp and Damien Mayo Jr. both made two free throws in the last minute, and Davis Jr. hit four to help ice the Salukis 79-75 win, marking a perfect eight-for-eight from the line.
“There were big free throws there that they made,” head coach Scott Nagy said.
It didn’t look like the Dawgs were going to get the chance to come back. After taking an early lead, Valpo came back and held a narrow lead for most of the first half before opening it up to a 34-29 lead.
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Valpo came out of the half hot and increased their lead to 40-29 before a quick Saluki run, driven by 3-pointers by Ali Dibba and Davis Jr. cut the lead to 42-39.
The Beacons held about a 5-point lead for the rest of the game until Davis Jr.’s three, and the Dawgs got the job done. Up to this point in the season, the Salukis had not won a game in which they trailed at halftime.
“The good teams I’ve had figure out ways to win games when they’re not playing well. Our guys did that tonight,” Nagy said.
Davis Jr. led the Dawgs with 19 points, including a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line, though he only shot 3-12 from the field.
Four Salukis finished with 13 points, including Hensley and Dibba. Dibba and Hensley had two offensive rebounds a piece, and Dibba also had two steals.
13 points matched Damien Mayo Jr.’s career-high, and set Jorge Moreno’s. Moreno played 14 minutes and shot a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and 50% from the free throw line, a large improvement from his 16.7% mark on the season.
“Mostly just proud of him as a man… probably the one player we had that hasn’t gotten a fair opportunity this year up until the UIC game,” Nagy said. “When we put him in, he was ready. How do you stay ready, how do you not give in to discouragement… It says so much about him, and I’m so happy for him.”
Moreno helped to fuel the Salukis’ 46 points in the paint, which helped to offset their poor performance from behind the three-point line.
“That’s been our deal here lately, We’re not a great shooting team, we know it, so we want to take less threes, get to the paint, get to the free throw line and muck up the game,” Nagy said.
Davis Jr. and Dibba continued their trend of playing heavy minutes; Dibba, who played 38, eclipsed 34 for the seventh consecutive game, while Davis Jr. was over 35 minutes for the sixth game in a row.
The Dawgs, who have won five of six and are now 10-12 and 5-6 in the Missouri Valley Conference. SIU will return to the Banterra Center and face off against Drake on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. on ESPNU.
Sports reporter Ryan Grieser can be reached at rgrieser@daillyegyptian.com. To stay up to date on all your southern Illinois news, be sure to follow The Daily Egyptian on Facebook.
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