KANSAS CITY, MO. - Mike Hardiek scored a career high for the second straight game as Southern Illinois University Edwardsville raced past Rockhurst 67-61 in men's Great Lakes Valley Conference basketball on Thursday.
         SIUE, 4-2 and 1-1 in the GLVC, picked up 16 points from Hardiek off the bench as he led all SIUE scorers. Rockhurst fell to 4-6 and 0-3 in the GLVC.
         SIUE next travels to Drury in Springfield, Mo., for a 4:15 p.m. matchup on Saturday with the Panthers.
         The Cougars had to battle back from poor shooting in the first half. SIUE coverted 31 percent of its shots in the first half. The Cougars were down 28-25 at halftime before being behind by as many as nine points.
         SIUE raced back in the second half, taking the lead for the first time in the game with 18:05 left on two free throws by J.B. Jones.
         The Cougars hit 22 of 25 free throws in the game as SIUE hit its final seven in the last 39 seconds of the game.
         Ty Johnson, Ryan Belcher and Jones joined Hardiek in double figures scoring. Joey Deas led Rockhurst's scoring with 17 points.
                  -siue cougars-