It was only 30 seconds into the Salukis season-opening matchup against the McKendree Bearcats on Monday, Nov. 3, when sophomore guard Drew Steffe nailed a corner three, and Banterra Center came alive for the first time this school year.

Neither team could pull away early, and the Salukis squeaked out a 9-6 lead through the game’s first five minutes. From that point forward, it was all SIU. The Salukis used a 7-0 run to extend their lead to 18-10 nearly halfway through the first half.

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The first 3-pointer of freshman guard Jalen Haynes’ collegiate career and the home team hitting half their shots helped the Salukis start to pull away 26-12 after only 13 minutes of action. The Saluki defense also played a huge part in the score, holding the Bearcats to a 29% field goal percentage up to that point.

The defenses took over late in the first half. The next five minutes saw five turnovers between the two teams and not a single field goal. The only point in the segment was a free throw from McKendree guard Caleb Burton to cut the SIU lead to 26-13.

Both offenses re-found their footing in the late stages of the first half, the Salukis especially. Of the 12 Salukis to see playing time, 10 scored, helping SIU to a 40-20 halftime lead. 

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The Salukis got scoring from everywhere, and they distributed it rather evenly. Despite holding a 52-26 lead with 14 minutes to go, leading scorers guard Quel’Ron House and forward Rolyns Aligbe only had 9 points each.

A seven point outburst from House helped extend the lead even further as the game entered the later stages. Freshman Jaheem Webber’s thunderous dunk for his first points as a Saluki made the score 63-32 with 7:50 left in the matchup.

The Saluki starters came out of the game for the last time with a little more than three minutes to go, with the game far out of reach. Freshman guard Caden Hawkins’ three pointer moments later meant all 12 Salukis who played scored at least two points, making the score 81-42.

“As we get into tighter games, there’s no way I can play 12 guys and they understand that. Tonight we were able to do that and get some good minutes for guys,” Saluki head coach Scott Nagy remarked postgame.

One Webber dunk later, the Salukis heard the final buzzer sound with the scoreboard showing an 83-42 victory over the Bearcats.

House led all scorers with 18 points to go along with 4 rebounds and 2 assists. House also led the team with 4 fouls.

“He fouls too much. If I had to say one thing it’s he fouls too much,” senior guard Damien Mayo Jr. joked. 

Nagy agreed, “I’d like him to stay out of foul trouble so he can play more minutes.”

Sophomore forward Max Pikaar paced the Salukis in rebounds with eight.

The 1-0 Salukis have less than a week before they take the floor again. They take on the Kansas City Roos Friday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. inside Banterra Center.

Sports Reporter Eli Hoover can be found at [email protected] or on Instagram at @hoovermakesart 

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