Dec. 13, 2009

Box Score

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Rod Emanuel scored a career-high 20 points as Middle Tennessee State defeated Southern Illinois University Edwardsville 83-58 in men's college basketball at Monte Hale Arena.

Middle Tennessee State improved to 4-6 overall while the Cougars fell to 2-8.

The Blue Raiders, who shot 50.9 percent (29-57) from the field and 69.2 percent (9-13) from three-point range, also picked up a double-double from Montarrio Haddock with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

MTSU took advantage of 18 SIUE turnovers to create 23 of its points.

SIUE Coach Lennox Forrester said taking care of the ball was a priority. "That's something we stressed before the game, and that's something we didn't do."

Denykco Bowles was SIUE's leading scorer with 12 points. Kevin Stineman recorded 11 points and Stephen Jones added 10. Mark Yelovich was held to nine points on 1-of-8 shooting.

The Cougars did a good job defensively on MTSU's leading scorer Desmond Yates. Yates came into the game averaging 23.0 points per game and finished with eight.

Four of SIUE's next five games are at the Vadalabene Center. Next up for the Cougars is Loyola next Sunday. Game time is 2 p.m. The Cougars travel to nationally-ranked Purdue on Dec. 22 and then return home for games against UMKC (Dec. 28), Murray State (Dec. 30) and Milwaukee (Jan. 5).

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