A 14-point lead for the Salukis in the first half wasn’t enough for Belmont who pulled ahead of Southern Illinois in the second half to seal the game with a final score of 73-68. The Bruins visited Carbondale to face the Salukis at home on Saturday, Feb. 15 looking to sweep SIU for the season.
“We had no emotion to us in the second half, guys didn’t respond to timeouts or being coached,” head coach Scott Nagy said.
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The Dawgs had strong momentum on both sides throughout the first half shooting 64% from the field and defensively holding Belmont to only 30%. Ali Dibba put up 17 points for SIU in the first 20 minutes including two 3-pointers.
The game remained close through the first 20 minutes until the Salukis began to extend their lead to a high of 14 points. A layup by Sheridan Sharp in the last minute sent the teams into the locker room with the Dawgs up 38-25 on the Bruins.
“We have to keep building on that lead,” SIU guard Drew Steffe said. “We’ve been up like this at half and we’ve extended the lead and blew people out, and we just didn’t do that today. We let them get back in the game.”
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Dibba, who played the entire 40 minutes, led the court with a total of 24 points and 8 rebounds, followed by Kennard Davis Jr.’s 13 points and Steffe’s 10 points. Jarrett Hensley led the team in rebounding with 10.
The Bruins turned the entire game around in the second half. Shooting 58.6% compared to their first half 30%, they went on a 22-4 run to surpass the Salukis and take the lead. SIU struggled offensively and only shot 30% in the second half making 11 of their 29 attempts.
“All the things that we don’t want to do, we did in the second half,” Nagy said. “A lot of defensive mistakes.”
Belmont’s Tyler Lundblade helped push Belmont ahead shooting 6-for-8 beyond the arc, putting up a total of 19 points for the game. In the second half alone, Lundblade made five 3-pointers that helped extend the Bruins lead.
“There’s plenty of blame to go around, that’s for sure, but I’ve not been more disappointed this year than after this one,” Nagy said.
The Salukis (12-15, 7-9 Missouri Valley Conference) are back on the road on Wednesday, Feb. 19 to face the Racers of Murray State (13-13, 7-8 MVC) at 6 p.m. in Murray, Kentucky.
Editor-in-chief Lylee Gibbs can be reached at lgibbs@dailyegyptian.com or @lyleegibbsphoto on Instagram. To stay up to date on all your southern Illinois news, be sure to follow The Daily Egyptian on Instagram and Facebook.
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