SIUE men lose three on break |
Branden Peterson |
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The holidays weren't so happy for Cougar basketball. SIUE finished the break with a win over Oakland City University and two straight losses to conference opponents. In their first game over the break the Cougars traveled to Kirksville Mo. to meet up with non-conference opponent Truman State University. The Bulldogs came out firing and went on an early 9-2 run in the first half, Truman State continued there dominance over SIUE going into half-time with a seven point lead. The Cougars made a late charge in the second half, but, the Bulldogs never let up their offensive attack. "It was just a poor performance," head coach Jack Margenthaler said. "It was like the snowball effect and we just couldn't stop it." Despite their second half rally the Cougars fell to Truman State 59-87. In the second game over break, SIUE played host to Oakland City University. SIUE went in to the game as the obvious favorites over the struggling 0-11 Mighty Oaks. Despite the Cougar victory Margenthaler was disappointed in his team's play. "We were excepted to win but I think we just played well enough to win," Margenthaler said. SIUE only shot 7 for 21 from the field and went into half-time trailing Oakland City 28-29. A performance that even Margenthaler could of been proud of was the outstanding performance by forward Marty Perry. Perry had a career high 30 points for the Cougars and shot 11-17 from the field and also totaled 13 rebounds and two blocked shots Oakland City's Ryan Kern scored 20 points for the Oaks but it wasn't enough to quiet the SIUE second half charge in which the Cougars outscored the Mighty Oaks 15-6. The Cougars handed Oakland City it's twelfth loss of the season winning 71-64. SIUE then traveled to Highland Heights Ky, to face conference opponent Northern Kentucky who is currently ranked third in the Great Lakes Valley Conference with a 4-1 record and a 13-1 record overall. The Norse wasted no time setting the tone for the game going into the half with a 43-37 lead never let up. "They are an excellent team and they beat us with their depth," said Margenthaler. The Norse kept scoring and caused the Cougars to cough up the ball 15 times and committed no turnovers themselves . Despite being out-rebounded by SIUE, the Norse added their fourth conference win to their season winning easily 99-75. In their final game over the break, the Cougars played host to conference opponents University of Indianapolis. The Greyhounds went into the game with an 8-3 record overall and 3-2 in the GLVC. At the half the Cougars not only were out-shot by the Greyhounds but went into half-time trailing by seven. In the second half the Cougars turned it up a notch and came out firing holding the Greyhounds to a 32 percent second-half from the field and not allowing Indianapolis to convert on any three-point attempts after a 5-9 performance in the first half. With one minute to go, the Cougars only trailed by one and chose not to manage the clock and work for the final shot. Instead the Cougars fired an ill-advised three-pointer with 20 seconds still on the clock allowing the Greyhounds to bring down the rebound and pull away in the closing seconds claiming a 65-60 win. | |