Cougars lick wounds, prepare for conference |
By Andrew Lehman |
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The Cougars will play St. Joseph's College and Indiana University/Purdue University at Fort Wayne. "I can't emphasize the importance of these games this weekend," head coach Jack Margenthaler said. "It would be tremendous to finish up this road trip with two conference victories." The Cougars, now 3-1, look to win four out of five games on the road and improve their record to 5-1. This will not be an easy task, according to Margenthaler, despite the fact that St. Joseph's was only 8-18 in the GLVC and 9-18 overall while Fort Wayne was only 7-15 in the GLVC and 10-17 overall. "St. Joe's has vastly improved and become a much more physical team," Margenthaler said. "Fort Wayne has a new coach who likes to use a pressing defense and a switching defense." Ryan Sexson leads the team in scoring with an average of 21.2 points per game. He also leads the team with 130 minutes played and is closely followed by Ty Moss who has played 128 minutes. Moss also leads the team in 3-point percentage shooting 10-for-17 from behind the arc. Travis Wallbaum leads the team in rebounds with 37 averaging 9.2 rebounds per game. Another plus so far this season for the Cougars has been their ability to outscore their opponents in the second half. While trailing opponents in the first half 127-123, SIU has outscored opponents 193-168 in the second half. SIUE forward Nick Hartwig will be back in full force this weekend. His ankle is almost 100 percent healthy, according to Margenthaler, while junior Dion Perkins has had the stitches taken out of the cut over his eye. "I am very pleased to say that we have no injuries and are healthy and ready to play," Margenthaler said. Through four games, Sexson leads the Cougars with 21.2 points per game and 8 steals. Travis Wallbaum is the leading rebounder with 37. | |
The SIUE men's basketball team heads out on the last leg of its five-game road trip this weekend to do battle in its first two Great Lakes Valley Conference games.