By Tom Weber –
Sean Lloyd (13) goes up for a layup as Kavion Pippen crashes the boards. (Madison Case – siusalukis.com)
ST LOUIS, MO — Illinois State made all three of its field goals and 14-of-15 free throws in overtime to overcome Southern Illinois, 76-68, in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Saturday.
Forward Phil Fayne did the bulk of the damage for the Redbirds (18-14) with half of his game-high 26 points coming in OT. ISU eliminated the Salukis (20-13) in the semis for the second straight year.
“We had to gut it out, as usual,” said Illinois State head coach Dan Muller. “You feel like you didn’t play your best, but we found a way to win. Phil was obviously huge down the stretch. A lot of guys made big plays.”
So many of Southern’s games this season came down to the wire and today was no different. The Salukis trailed in this contest for all but four minutes and were down seven at halftime, but clawed their way back with gritty defense and some timely shots by Marcus Bartley. He scored all 10 of his points in the second half and his 3-pointer at 11:59 gave SIU its first lead of the half, 45-44. Aaron Cook made a pull-up jumper at 10:17 to make it 47-44, but that was the high-water mark for Southern.
William Tinsley tied the game, 47-47, with a 3-pointer with 9:47 remaining. The Redbirds extended their lead to 54-49 with 6:36 to go, but neither team scored during the next three minutes until SIU’s Armon Fletcher‘s buried a trey from the right corner to make it 54-52 with 3:40 left.
With the score tied, 56-56, during the final frantic minute of regulation, Cook missed a desperation 3-pointer for SIU as the shot clock expired at the 44-second mark, and ISU’s Milik Yarbrough missed two potential go-ahead shots in the final 11 seconds, sending the game to an extra five minutes.
Unfortunately for Southern, center Kavion Pippen fouled out in the final minute of regulation, finishing the game with seven points. The Salukis went with a small lineup in overtime, and Illinois State made them pay, pounding the ball into Fayne, who was unstoppable.
“The game was over when K.P. went out,” said SIU head coach Barry Hinson. “I have no magic wands. I was wanting Harry Potter to show up where I could go, foom! You’re bigger.”
Southern took a brief lead in OT, 59-58, on a 3-pointer by Armon Fletcher, but ISU countered with a 12-2 run.
“You lose a game like that, a close game, it hurts a lot,” said Fletcher, who tied Sean Lloyd for the team lead in scoring with 15 points. “So you just keep thinking about during the game, what plays led to that situation for them to have the opportunity to win a game. It just replays in your head the whole time.”
Illinois State will make its third championship game appearance in four years when it plays regular-season champion Loyola tomorrow. Muller was asked how much gas was left in the tank after a grinding OT game with Southern.
“Look, these kids are fine, they’re 21 years old, they’ll be all right physically,” he said. “Can they handle the mental part of it? There’s pressure on both teams, same for us, same for Loyola.”
Meanwhile, Southern’s season came to an end in St. Louis for the 10th-straight season. The Salukis won 20 games for the second time in three years, finished second in the standings, and Hinson was already looking ahead to next season.
“Illinois State will probably be picked first, but we’re going to be in the top three,” he said. “We finished second
outright (this year). I mean, we’ve taken a step. We’ve got good players. And the majority of them are back next year.”
Box Score
http://siusalukis.com/boxscore.aspx?id=8213&path=mbball
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