Dan Heimos finished with 15 points and nine rebounds as Southern Illinois University Edwardsville defeated Missouri-St. Louis 67-60 in men's Great Lakes Valley Conference basketball on Thursday at the Vadalabene Center.
         SIUE improved to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in the GLVC. It was the fourth straight victory for the Cougars this season as Cougar Coach Marty Simmons improved his record to 5-0 against the Rivermen.
         Thursday's game saw eight lead changes and 11 ties before SIUE took control in the final two minutes of the game.
         Heimos hit two free throws at 2:12 to give the Cougars a 60-58 edge. UMSL missed three straight three-pointers and the Cougars countered with a three-pointer from Joel Jaye and two more free throws in the next minute of play.
         J.B. Jones two free throws with nine seconds left put the game out of reach from the Rivermen.
         UMSL's Jonathan Griffin led all scorers with 21 points as he hit four three-pointers. Joey Paul added 12 for the Rivermen.
         Tim Bauersachs and Justin Ward scored 11 each for the Cougars.
         SIUE next returns to the Vadalabene Center on Saturday for a 3 p.m. match with No. 4-ranked Southern Indiana.
                  -siue cougars-