Boxscore

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The good news for the University of Evansville men's basketball team here Tuesday night included an 8-0 run early in the first half, and a 9-0 run to finish the first half. The bad news came when Southern Illinois scored 17 straight points in between. The result was a seven-point Saluki halftime lead, and Southern Illinois held off another Aces' rally in the second half to post a 67-55 win.

SIU is now 10-9 overall and 4-4 in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Aces are 9-9 and 3-5 heading into Sunday's 1:05 game at Roberts Stadium against Bradley.

The Aces were up 13-10 when Southern Illinois ran off 17 consecutive points to take the lead for good late in the first half. Evansville eventually cut the margin to four in the second half on two Kavon Lacey free throws with 8:04 to play, but a Carlton Fay three-pointer made it 50-43 and Mykel Cleveland then scored SIU's next eight points over a two-minute stretch to put the home team up 58-44.

The loss overshadowed an outstanding performance from Evansville senior Pieter van Tongeren, who tied his career high with 18 points on 8-for-11 shooting. Ned Cox was next in line with nine points. Colt Ryan, the league's third leading scorer with a 16-point average, was held to six points for 2-for-10 shooting.