Weekend College Men's, Women's Basketball Roundup

SIUE Men 55, Western Illinois 38

MACOMB, Ill. –  Missing two starters and four players overall, SIUE men's basketball fell to 0-4 away from home with a 55-38 loss at Western Illinois Saturday night.

It wasn't an easy night, with the guys missing but that's no excuse for the way we played," SIUE Head Coach Lennox Forrester said. "Our concentration level was poor. When you're playing on the road you're level of concentration needs to be high. I didn't think they were focused coming in and it really showed. That's on us."

Mark Yelovich (ankle), Zeke Schneider (ankle), and Charles Joy (back) each missed their third consecutive game. Maurice Wiltz missed the game, after suffering an injury in practice Friday afternoon.

SIUE fell to 2-5 overall. Western Illinois improved to 7-3. The Leathernecks have won four consecutive games. The two schools split the season series, after SIUE defeated Western Illinois 62-50 Nov. 14 in Edwardsville.

SIUE did not have a player finish in double figures scoring. Michael Messer led the Cougars with nine points. Jerome Jones finished with seven points and a game-high nine rebounds.

Toledo 67, EIU Men 59

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Three Eastern Illinois players scored in double figures Saturday but the Panthers (3-8) were unable to overcome a 59 percent shooting night by Toledo as the Rockets picked up a 67-59 victory in Lantz Arena. Toledo improved to 3-6.

The Rockets led from start to finish as they opened the game on a 7-0 run with Dominique Buckley starting the game with one of his three 3-pointers on the night. A 3-pointer by Reese Holliday with 13:45 to go in the first put Toledo up 16-7.

Alex Austin scored a career high 21 points with four 3-pointers. Sherman Blanford had ten points.

SIUE Women 61, IPFW 54

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Raven Berry recorded her second double-double against IPFW and third of the season Saturday as SIUE downed the Mastodons 61-54 at the Vadalabene Center.
 
Berry led SIUE women's basketball with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Teammate Tierny Austin and CoCo Moore added 16 and 15 points, respectively. Moore was one rebound shy of her first double-double. Teutopolis graduate Jessie Wendt played four minutes but did not score.
 
It was the second time this season that the Cougars, now 6-4, defeated the Mastodons, now 3-6. SIUE repeated a seven-point win over IPFW after opening the season with a 74-67 win in Fort Wayne, Ind.

Millikin Women 72, Westminster College 61

The Millikin women’s basketball team defeated Westminster College 72-61 Sunday in the final day of Millikin’s 13th Annual Harriett Crannell Holiday Classic.

Senior Bria Williams (Naperville, Neuqua Valley H.S.) led Millikin with a double double with a team high 16 points and a team high 11 rebounds. Moli Copple (El Paso, El Paso Gridley H.S.) had 12 points and eight rebounds. Brittany Czaplicki (Bourbonnais, Bradley Bourbonnais H.S.) had 10 points. Senior Nikki Tipsword (Newton, H.S.) had a strong game with nine

Millikin lost to Wisconsin Lutheran College 59-46 Friday in the first game of the Crannell Holiday Classic.

Saklak led Millikin in scoring coming off the bench to score 14 points. Tipsword had a double double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

The Big Blue women lost at #5 Washington University-St. Louis 71-42 Wednesday in St.Louis, Mo. Williams led Millikin with eight points. Jasmine Johnson (Springfield, Marshalltown College) had seven points and five rebounds.

The Big Blue will next play in the Tri-Conference Tournament at Fontbonne University in St. Louis, Mo. Millikin will play Fontbonne Friday at 7 p.m. and then face Illinois College Saturda at 7 p.m.

Millikin Men 87, Fontbonne 77

The Millikin men’s basketball defeated Fontbonne University 87-77 at the Griswold Center Tuesday.

Breaking a 7-7 with three minutes and 30 seconds into the first half, Millikin went on a major run outscoring Fontbonne 45-22 for the reminder of the first half building a 52-31 advantage at the half. Millikin controlled the second half maintaining a double digit lead the entire half.

Millikin had three players in double figures in scoring led by TJ Griffin (St. Louis, Mo., McCluer H.S.) was 20 points. He added five steals and four assists. Deavis Johnson (East St. Louis, H.S.) had 15 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Alex Tueth (Decatur, St. Teresa H.S.) had a double double with 14 points and a team high 10 rebounds.

The Millikin men’s basketball team lost to Mid-Continent University 78-72 in overtime Saturday at the Greenville College Tournament in Greenville.

Millikin was up by three in the game’s final seconds, but Mid-Continent hit a three pointer at the buzzer to tie the game sending it to overtime. Mid-Continent outscored the Big Blue 19-13 in the overtime period. Johnson led Millikin with a double double with 21 points and 17 rebounds.

Millikin lost to Missouri Baptist 81-77 at the Greenville College Tournament in Greenville,
Ill. Friday.

Missouri Baptist was up 35-33 at the half, but Millikin rallied early in the second half to push ahead. Millikin led for about nine minutes of play with its biggest lead being four points.

Griffin led the way with 16 points. Windemuller added 15 points hitting on five of six three-pointers. The Big Blue will travel to Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind. Wednesday.