This rematch was on the Salukis’ terms.

SIU saw what was once a 14-point lead against Bradley dwindle to five points with less than two minutes remaining, but held on to nab a 60-50 victory in Wednesday night’s Missouri Valley Conference game at SIU Arena, in front of a crowd of 7,025.

The Braves won the Jan. 10 match-up between the teams in Peoria, 48-46.

“That is a good team,” SIU coach Chris Lowery said of Bradley. “They really make you rotate and run long ways to help.”

With leading scorer Jamaal Tatum on the bench due to a deep thigh bruise, senior guard Tony Young and the team came through. Young led all scorers with 25 points, converting on 9-of-17 field goal attempts. He was also 4-of-6 from behind the arc.

“I thought everybody had to step it up a little bit,” Young said. “Everybody had to step up and make plays.”

With No. 21 SIU (20-5, 11-3) leading 54-48 with less than a minute remaining, Young made two free throws, followed by a thunderous one-handed dunk to end any comeback hopes for Bradley.

Early in the second half, freshman guard Josh Bone drained a three-pointer. After a Bradley miss, Bryan Mullins found Bone open again. Bone’s shot missed but Randal Falker grabbed the rebound and made a layup to push the Saluki lead to 45-21.

Falker finished with a double-double – 13 points and 12 rebounds.

The Salukis had a 41-to-28 rebounding advantage in the game. Matt Shaw and Falker combined to record 26 rebounds in the game.

Thirty of the Salukis’ boards were defensive – a result of Bradley’s poor shooting from behind three-point range. Bradley (16-10, 7-6) struggled to find its three-point shot all night, converting on only 3-of-22 attempts. The Braves ranked ninth in the nation in team three-point field goal percentage before the night.

In the first half, Young shook loose from the Braves’ defense and started a run midway through the half by making a three pointer from the baseline. Moments later, Shaw fired a three from the top of the key that rattled out of the rim but was put back in by Tony Boyle.

Then, after Matt Shaw blocked a Bradley lay-up attempt, Mullins led a fast break and split two defenders to score two off of the glass. The sequence of events gave the Salukis an 18-7 lead. The Salukis led by double digits for the remainder of the first half and most of the second.

Lowery enlisted the help of sophomore Wesley Clemmons early in the game because of Tatum’s injury. He said once he saw that Clemmons was giving what was needed on both sides of the ball, Lowery felt better about having Tatum on the bench to rest his leg.

The Salukis’ win, combined with Creighton’s comeback from a 14-point halftime deficit to beat Evansville, means when SIU hosts the Jays (17-7, 11-3) on Sunday there will be a battle for first place in the conference. The game will be televised on ESPN2. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:05 p.m.

Other notes

SIU women’s basketball coach Dana Eikenberg and her team earned a standing ovation from the SIU Arena crowd during an early timeout for the team’s first place record in the MVC. Eikenberg requested all Saluki fans to come out to cheer on the Dawgs during home games Friday and Sunday.

Eikenberg’s team plays Bradley at 7:05 p.m. Friday and Northern Iowa at 2:05 p.m. Sunday.