Saluki fans’ hearts surely sank with the clock running down and a seemingly out-of-control shot from Jarrett Hensley on the way. 

They didn’t have to suffer for long; the opposite flood of emotions came only a second later, when Hensley dished the ball to Davion Sykes, who put it up for the game-winning shot.

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Sykes gently put the ball off the glass for a layup with 4.1 seconds to go to finish off an 86-85 win over the Indiana State Sycamores.

“I knew they would make a play,” head coach Scott Nagy said. “Davion did what he does best, he cut.”

“I honestly thought (Jarrett Hensley) was going to shoot it but he saw me down there and he trusted me, so he passed it, and so there’s only one thing left to do,” Sykes said. “I just kind of did a shot that I’ve done plenty of times,” Sykes said.

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Sykes was seemingly on pace for his regular minutes before Damien Mayo Jr. picked up his third foul. Sykes, who averages 16.6 minutes per game, ended up playing over 22 and was huge defensively for the Dawgs without mentioning his winning shot. 

SIU came out of the gates swinging; Hensley made the first three Saluki field goals, including an emphatic slam and a 3 pointer, and nearly every basket came after a big Saluki defensive play. 

Indiana State was unfazed by the early Saluki run, quickly cutting the Saluki deficit and going up 16-12 before another Hensley 3 made it 16-15.

The Salukis weren’t done though. Kennard Davis Jr. made two 3s to keep the Dawgs in the game, though Indiana State answered each time with 3s of their own.

Ali Dibba came alive after a trio of early missed free throws, hitting on three consecutive layups, giving the Dawgs a 32-30 lead. Davis Jr. hit the floor to grab a steal that led to the second Dibba basket.

Davis Jr. continued his gritty play, fighting through two defenders to earn a layup. Within the next minute, Indiana State was whistled for their eighth team foul, putting the Dawgs into the bonus and giving Dibba an extra free throw, which he converted to put the Dawgs down 37-36. 

SIU closed the half on an 11-2 run to take a 47-43 lead into the break, led by a Steffe 3 and 6 more points by Ali Dibba, who had 18 in the period. The 47 points were the most SIU had scored in a half all season.

The Sycamores’ Aaron Gray had a monster half as well, matching Dibba’s 18 points. Their leading scorer in the first matchup with the Salukis, Samage Teel, had only 4 points in the first half. 

Dibba picked up right where he left off and had 8 points in the first four minutes of the second half. Davion Sykes threw down a dunk to put SIU up 64-51 with 15 minutes to play, the largest lead of the game to that point. 

The Saluki defense started to waver with such a lead; the Sycamores went on a four minute, 12-0 run to tie it at 67-67 before Steffe snapped the run with a floater at the 9:40 mark.

“I think all year has prepared us for this moment., We’ve had a lot of games where we’ve been up and down, and just by being in the position that we were, it was key to not lose focus and just stay together,” Sykes said. 

Davis Jr. would not be denied over the next five minutes; he put up 7 points, while Dibba crossed the 30-point threshold with 4:02 to play to give the Dawgs a slim 80-79 lead and counter a flurry of Sycamore 3s. It was Dibba’s second time scoring 30 or more points this season.

Steffe was able to convert a one-footed jumper late in the shot clock to put the Salukis up 82-79, and Hensley blocked a shot to deny Indiana State the lead.

SIU fell behind 83-82 with 1:52 left to play, but Davis Jr. hit a second chance bucket to regain the lead with 1:18 to go. Teel made a layup to go up 85-84, and Hensley traveled at the other end to give the Sycamores the ball back. 

Sykes saved the day with 4.1 seconds to go, grabbing a Davis Jr.’s rebound and putting it off the glass for a layup. 

As Sykes’ layup swished through the net, the roof blew off of the Enterprise Center as the hundreds of Saluki fans in attendance screamed in jubilance, and while Indiana State got the last shot, it bounced harmlessly off the backboard in the Salukis’ 86-85 win.

The Dawgs shot 53.7% from the field for the game, and 42.9% from 3 point range, led by Davis Jr.’s 4-7 performance from beyond the arc. They also outrebounded Indiana State 37-29, including 9 offensive rebounds.

Nagy won his 591st game, including his Arch Madness debut, and SIU snapped an Arch Madness losing streak that dated back to 2023 with the win.

The Salukis (14-18, 9-12) will take on conference number one Drake (27-3, 17-3) in a loser-go-home game on Friday, March 6 at noon.

Sports reporter Ryan Grieser can be reached at rgrieser@dailyegyptian.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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