The Salukis made their way to Carver Arena in Peoria, Illinois Sunday, Dec. 21 to take on the Bradley Braves in their first conference road game of the season. The Salukis shot a paltry 15.8% from behind the three point line, and that was a big factor in what ended up being a gut-wrenching 73-69 loss.

“It’s amazing we were in the game with the way we shot the ball,” Saluki head coach Scott Nagy said postgame.

The Salukis started off scorching, with guard Quel’Ron House scoring a floater a minute into the ballgame, followed immediately by guard Damien Mayo Jr. stealing the inbounds pass and making a layup. Bradley was able to settle themselves from there, and were only down 11-10 at the first media timeout of the game.

SIU couldn’t keep the hot start going, running into a scoreless streak of nearly two and a half minutes. Luckily for the Salukis, Bradley had some offensive issues of their own. But the Braves took enough advantage to take a 15-13 lead with 11:49 left in the half.

Foul trouble quickly became an issue for SIU. Guard Jalen Haynes got whistled for his second foul of the contest with 10:36 still left in the half. House had already gotten his second foul a moment earlier, meaning Nagy had to give guard Caden Hawkins his first competitive minutes of the season.

Hawkins and the rest of the Salukis on the floor were able to keep the team in the game despite the foul issues. A struggling Braves offense meant the home side was only up 25-22 with 7:23 left until halftime.

Bradley finally seemed to get a bit of breathing room by going up 29-24. Just as fast as it happened, though, it was taken away. Mayo made a layup and the ensuing free throw to knot the game at 29 with 4:03 left in the opening stanza.

Comparative to the rest of the half, the final four minutes was a rush of offense. Bradley guard Demarion Burch hit multiple threes to help the Braves to a 39-34 lead heading into the locker room.

Mayo led the Salukis with nine points in a half where many SIU players’ minutes were limited by foul trouble.

The Braves continued to keep the Salukis at bay throughout the early portions of the second half. SIU couldn’t get any closer than five points, and trailed 52-45 with 14:02 left in the contest.

SIU spent the next six and a half minutes of game time trying to get over the hump and tie the game back up. They got as close as three points, but were ultimately unsuccessful. Bradley sported a 60-53 lead with 7:35 left in regulation.

The Salukis refused to give up though, as back to back buckets brought it to 62-57. That forced Bradley head coach Brian Wardle to call a timeout with 6:04 to go. The timeout worked in stymeing the Saluki surge, as the Braves immediately brought the lead back out to seven, where it would stay going into the final media timeout of the matchup.

Bradley got spooked by full-court pressure applied by the Salukis, and Wardle was forced to call another timeout with 1:43 to go, Bradley up 69-63.

Forward Rolyns Aligbe hit the Salukis’ second three of the contest with 49.9 seconds to go to cut the Bradley lead to 69-66. After two Bradley made free throws, Mayo nailed a straightaway three to make it 71-69, the closest it had been since early in the first half.

On the ensuing inbounds, House was able to pick the pocket of Bradley guard Jaquan Johnson, giving the Salukis a chance to tie the game or even take the lead. But the chance literally slipped through Aligbe’s fingers when he couldn’t handle House’s pass with 1.1 seconds to go.

Two free throws from Bradley guard Alex Huibregste locked in a 73-69 victory for the Braves.

Mayo was still impressed with the team’s mindset, despite the loss.

“I’m obviously hurt. There’s a lot going through my mind. We didn’t give up though. Last year’s team would have given up,” he said.

Mayo led the team with 4 steals and was also the leading scorer on the afternoon for the Salukis, finishing up at 18 points. He was joined in double digits by Aligbe (16) and House (10).

The Salukis drop to 6-7 overall and 0-2 in conference play. They’ll take a break for the Christmas holiday before resuming their road trip Monday, Dec. 29 in Murray, Kentucky at 6 p.m. when they take on the Murray State Racers.

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

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