Dec. 5, 2009

Box Score

DES MOINES, Iowa - Southern Illinois University Edwardsville won its first tournament crown of the Division I era Saturday with a 71-67 victory over UT Arlington at the HyVee Classic.

Starting the season with six straight losses, SIUE now boasts a two-game winning streak and a tournament title.

Aamir McCleary and Mark Yelovich scored four points each in an 11-0 run that put SIUE ahead for good in the second half. The duo was named to the Drake HyVee Classic All-Tournament team. Yelovich was named the tournament Most Valuable Player after scoring 42 points in wins over UT Arlington and Drake.

SIUE Coach Lennox Forrester credited his players for Saturday's victory.

"They made tough plays down the stretch to come home with a championship," said Forrester.

"It's a great championship to add to the foundation we're trying to build."

LeShaun Murphy, who put an exclamation point on the game with a dunk with two seconds left, came off the bench to shoot 8 for 10 from the field. The Cougar freshman from Chicago finished with 16 points. Yelovich was the team's leading scorer for the sixth time this season, scoring 18 points.

The Cougars played a consistent game in both halves, shooting 53.2 percent (25-47) from the field for the game. SIUE has now shot 50 percent or better in five consecutive halves.

SIUE also won the rebound battle for the second straight game. This time, SIUE edged UT Arlington on the boards 39-32 with seven from both Yelovich and Denykco Bowles.

On defense, the Cougars had to contend with Marquez Haynes, who pumped in 30 points off 10-of-21 shooting from the field. Brandon Long was the only other player in double figures for the Mavericks with 12 points. UT Arlington was held to 37.1 percent shooting for the game.

The Mavericks, now 4-3 overall, held the lead for most of the second half after taking a 34-30 edge into halftime. UT Arlington never led by more than seven points. The Mavericks' last seven-point lead was with 7:39 to play. SIUE then made an 11-0 run and took its first lead of the second half. McCleary, who scored 11 points and added four assists, made the go-ahead bucket with 4:07 to play.

The Cougars went up by four with 3:08 to play when Kevin Stineman scored his only field goal of the game. SIUE, which finished with a season-high offensive output of 71 points, maintained the lead down the stretch.

"We can get better as a team," declared Forrester. "I know we're getting better. We've got to keep focusing, not looking backwards."

The Cougars now look forward to a return trip at Lipscomb, which defeated the Cougars last week by three points at the Vadalabene Center. SIUE plays in Nashville, Tenn., at 7 p.m. Thursday followed by a 4 p.m. game next Sunday at Middle Tennessee State.