SIUE Downs UT Martin, 71-63

The Cougars improved to 8-17 overall and 2-10 in the Ohio Valley Conference. UT Martin fell to 8-17 and 4-9.

"I'm just really proud of our team," SIUE Head Coach Brian Barone said. "It's a team I believe in, I continue to believe in them because of what they are willing to do for one another and with one another. We came out today and I thought we had a great attitude defensively. We really did a good job of flying around the court and having each other's back early in the first half, and that really carried over into everything we were doing, which was really impressive."

The two teams traded scores to open the game and UT Martin led 12-11 with 13:43 to play before halftime. SIUE scored the next 10 points to lead 21-12 with 9:23 to play before the break, and the Cougars never trailed again in the game.

UT Martin's Koby Jeffries hit a running layup as time expired on the first half and SIUE took a 36-30 lead into the break.

The Skyhawks used a 10-4 push in the opening minutes of the second half to pull even with the Cougars at 40 apiece. It was the first of two times UT Martin pulled even. They tied the game again at 49 with 11:39 left. Each time UT Martin made a push, SIUE responded.

Shaun Doss and Desmond Polk each buried big three-pointers in the final minutes to help the Cougars' cause. The Skyhawks had cut the SIUE lead to 57-56 when Lamar

Wright forced a turnover and fed Doss on the left wing for a three to put SIUE up 60-56. The Skyhawks cut the lead back to two when Polk pushed it back to five with a three-pointer with 3:25 to play.

After missing 11 free throws in a six-point loss at UT Martin in January, The Cougars cemented their win Thursday with free throws down the stretch. Courtney Carter, Lamar Wright and Polk all hit free throws in the final 30 seconds as SIUE hit 6-8 attempts to seal the win. The Cougars were 15-21 for the game.

SIUE connected on 49 percent (25-51) of its shots, the team's third-best shooting percentage in a game this year.

Doss scored a game-high 16 points to lead three Cougars in double figures Thursday. He was 6-8 from the field and knocked down two triples.

"It felt good," Doss said after the game. "Like I said last week, I feel like we were fighting a lot of adversity. Coach always tells us 'A man is defined by the way he responds', so

I feel like all of us responded the right way and produced on the court."
Carter scored 14 points while adding six rebounds, six assists and a steal in 40 minutes.

"I knew it was going to be a tough one," Carter said. "We were short a couple men, so I was just trying to do whatever the team needed. If that means playing 40, I'm playing 40."

"He's such a talented player," Barone said of Carter. "He didn't have a normal year last year, and a lot of times when a person comes from a junior college or another program, it takes them some time to acclimate. What he's been doing for about three or four weeks, he's been doing some really nice things. With the injuries we've had, he's had to carry that load and I thought that his mindset was off the charts today."

Shamar Wright scored 11 points while Lamar Wright and Polk each added nine points.

UT Martin was led by Bernie Andre, who scored 12 points. Koby Jeffries scored 11.

SIUE remains home to take on Tennessee Tech Saturday afternoon. The game is the second half of a doubleheader with the SIUE women. It is slated to tip at 3:30 p.m.

"They didn't see the best version of us in my opinion," Barone said. "They beat us down there, they did a good job. We're going to get right back and start watching the game, we'll get right after it tonight, have a gameplan tomorrow. "We're going to be ready to roll and I know this team is hungry to get back on the court."