At 6:01 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 17, the ball was tipped inside the Banterra Center, and Saluki basketball (un)officially began for the 2025-2026 season in Carbondale.

Resiliency was the word of the game for the Salukis. Despite being down double digits for much of the second half, SIU was able to escape with an 84-79 victory against the Austin Peay Governors. 

The home squad immediately took control of the contest, jumping out to a 7-1 lead three minutes in. Senior forward Prince Aligbe in particular was impressive on offense in the early going, scoring seven straight Saluki points after sophomore guard Quel’Ron House opened the scoring.

After that, the Governors settled in, as guard Tyler Wagner hit back-to-back threes to give the visiting squad a 17-14 lead with 12:50 left in the half. 

For the next six minutes it became a game of tug-of-war, with the lead changing hands four times in that time frame. Austin Peay came out on top, taking a 32-29 lead with 6:24 to go in the first frame.

The Governors’ defense was on fire the rest of the half, not allowing a single Saluki field goal the rest of the half. That combined with a prolific offense gave them a 45-35 halftime cushion.

The Salukis came out of the locker room hot, with House and senior guard Damien Mayo Jr. scoring back-to-back buckets to open the half to briefly cut the lead back down to six. However, Austin Peay was able to keep SIU at arms length, extending their lead out to 55-43 with 15:59 left to go in the contest.

The Saluki offense then came back to life thanks to a supercharge from senior Isaiah Stafford and went on a 10-2 run to close the gap to 57-53 with 12 minutes remaining.

SIU kept the pressure on, and a Drew Steffe three-pointer got them within 68-66 with 7:30 to go, the closest it had been since seven minutes left in the opening half.

The Saluki defense and House continuing to pour in points on offense finally got SIU over the hump, as they took a 72-68 lead into the final media timeout, their first since 20-19 halfway through the first.

The Salukis took a 77-72 lead into the final 90 seconds, and that forced Austin Peay into a full-court press defense to try and create turnovers and speed up the Saluki offense.

Free throws ended up sealing it for the Salukis in the closing seconds, making the final score 84-79.

Quel’Ron House impressed in his Saluki debut, scoring a game-high 29 points to go along with five rebounds and two assists. When asked postgame what the most important thing to take away from the matchup, House replied “When adversity hits, we gotta stand together.”

Sophomore forward Rolyns Aligbe added 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

The Salukis have one more exhibition against the Lindenwood Lions in St. Charles, Missouri on Oct. 29 at 6 p.m. before the season officially starts Monday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. at home against Division II foe McKendree.  

Sports reporter Eli Hoover can be reached at ehoover@dailyegyptian.com or on Instagram at @hoovermakesart

Advertisement