Feb. 25, 2006

By Tom Weber
www.SIUSalukis.com

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CARBONDALE, Ill. - The roller coaster ride that has been Saluki basketball this season lurched forward once again Saturday, as Southern Illinois pulled off a critical victory over #25-ranked Northern Iowa, 46-45.

Tony Young banked home the winning basket -- an eight-foot floater over the out-stretched arm of UNI forward Grant Stout -- with seven seconds left. Young then sprinted back on defense and forced Panthers' guard Ben Jacobson to miss an off-balance 3-pointer at the buzzer in the game's dramatic finish.

"We have been through some peaks and valleys this year," admitted Saluki head coach Chris Lowery.

The Salukis (19-10, 12-6) desperately needed a win. The victory snapped a three-game losing skid, but more importantly, revived the team's post-season chances.

Southern won't enter the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament as the #1 seed as it has the last four years, but it did claim the advantageous #2 slot and will play next Friday at 6 p.m. against the winner of the Evansville-Illinois State game.

"That's a huge credit to our kids," said Lowery, whose team is still squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble. "For all the stuff we've been through -- and they say we've been knocked off the mountain -- but we got knocked off one space."

"This is more of a confidence booster than anything else," Young said. "This gets us back in the mix and back together as a team."

On the flip side, Northern Iowa (22-8, 11-7) lost its third-straight game, and the pre-season favorites found themselves in sixth place in the rough and tumble MVC at the end of the day.

"We've had a tough couple of weeks," UNI head coach Greg McDermott said flatly.

Still, the Panthers have a solid NCAA Tournament resume with a high RPI and non-conference wins over Iowa and LSU. McDermott was not displeased with his team's performance against Southern.

"This team responded in the exact fashion I thought they would -- with toughness and class," he said. "We got beat by a tough team."

If a season could be summed up in one game, Saturday was it for Southern Illinois.

The Salukis were out of kilter to start the game, missing eight-straight shots during a span in which they fell behind 14-2. The stretch was not unlike SIU's early season woes, in which it lost three of its first five games.

But one big play ignited SIU Saturday. Jamaal Tatum knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key, was fouled by Jared Josten, and converted the four-point play to make the score 14-6.

"It was a momentum swing for us, and everyone kind of fed off of that," Tatum said.

In fact, it was like a shot of adrenaline in the arm of Southern's team.

Suddenly, Saluki defenders were active in the passing lanes, forcing nine turnovers during a remarkable 30-6 run during the next 14 minutes of action. Southern was playing its best defense since an 11-game winning streak in the middle of the season.

"Turnovers led to a few, free baskets," McDermott said. "That is the cardinal sin against them -- you just can't allow them to do it."

Lowery was especially pleased with the defensive play of reserve forward Jamaal Foster. In the first meeting between the schools, UNI's front court of Grant Stout and Eric Coleman combined for 44 points. They scored half that many today.

"You have to give credit to (Foster) for being so poised today," Lowery said. "He only got two points, but the other things he did, like post trapping, defensive positioning, frustrating Stout and Coleman. He was great."

On offense, the Salukis played unselfishly, looking to make the extra pass. On one, nifty play right before halftime, Tatum passed up an open 3-pointer in favor of Matt Shaw cutting to the basket for a closer look. Shaw hit the runner for two of his game-high 16 points.

"We knew we would crawl back into the game, whether it was scoring baskets or stopping them, and fortunately we did both," Tatum said.

But just as the long, conference season has brought on fatigue, so too did the game's final 10 minutes.

Northern Iowa gradually whittled away SIU's 12-point lead until the Panthers' Grant Stout made a pair of free throws with 13 seconds left to put his team ahead, 44-43.

That's when Young provided the game's heroics for Southern. Prior to the winning basket, the junior guard had made just 2-of-11 shots on the afternoon, many of the misses just rimming out.

"The rim didn't like me today -- I was going straight to the basket," Young said. "I just yelled at Bryan (Mullins) to give me the ball, and he did, and I went."

The Salukis will take two days off from practice and then prepare for what figures to be the most competitive tournament in league history. No less than six teams are fighting for an NCAA Tournament berth.

At least Southern heads into the battle royale with momentum.

"After a win like today, you get back excited to play again," Young said.