Nov. 7, 2009

Box Score

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Illinois College put the ball in the paint when it counted and ended up with a 78-76 overtime victory over Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in men's basketball exhibition play.

The Blueboys scored eight of their 10 overtime points in the paint, including the game winner with three seconds left by David Stewart. It was a 24-point effort from Stewart on 11-of-16 shooting.

"We've got to be a better team from start to finish," said SIUE Coach Lennox Forrester.

SIUE next looks to raise their profile Friday in Champaign. The Cougars travel to Illinois Friday night for a game at Assembly Hall. All the action is available on KFNS AM-590 and WSIE FM 88.7 with Joe Pott and Chris Bray providing the call.

On Saturday, the Cougars picked up 18 points each from Aamir McCleary and Mark Yelovich. However, the Cougars struggled from the field as a team with a 33.3 percentage (24 of 72).

Illinois College jumped out of the gate on fire, scoring the first eight points of the game. The Cougars would take the lead for the first time on a jumper by McCleary with 10:03 to play.

The Blueboys held tight and gathered a one-point lead at halftime (36-34) on a three-point play by Melvin Walker.

"I thought they played well and executed well. I give Illinois College a lot of credit," said Forrester.

The Cougars went up by as much as six points as late as four minutes to play. The Blueboys kept pecking away at the lead by being efficient on the offensive end. Illinois College hit 29 of 57 from the field. Jacob Tucker added 19 points for the Blueboys as well as team-high seven rebounds.

SIUE picked up a strong rebounding effort, including 15 from Dobrivoje Mavrak. Forrester said he has stressed the same ideas in preseason practice. "We stressed team basketball, moving the basketball and taking good shots," said Forrester.

-siue cougars-