Late three buries SIUE
T.J. Cowell
Issue date: 12/3/09 Section: Sports
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Head Coach Lennox Forrester saw the same thing happen on Tuesday as the Mastodons edged his team 69-64 at the Vadalabene Center.
Tuesday's game saw both teams struggle back and forth for control with seven lead changes and six ties.
"Another close one," Forrester said. "We just didn't make the plays down the stretch. We are knocking on the door. It's time to start winning some games, not coming close."
Tuesday's defeat marked SIUE's third consecutive loss by 10 points or less. The Cougars battled IPFW to a 36-33 mark at halftime with SIUE holding the slight advantage. A big factor in the Cougars' first half lead was SIUE going 10 of 11 at the charity stripe in the first 20 minutes.
IPFW came out of the locker room following halftime by sparking a 7-0 run. From there, the Mastodons outscored the hosts 38-26 in the second half, improving to 2-3.
Leading SIUE was sophomore guard Mark Yelovich, who scored 15 points despite shooting three of 13 from the field. He was a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line. Senior guard Aamir McCleary and sophomore guard David Boarden followed with 14 and 11 points respectively.
"We have got to build on our maturity towards the end of the game," McCleary said. "We know we can play. It's a matter of getting things done. Rebounding is all effort. You have to have the effort."
The Mastodons won the battle of the boards with 43 rebounds, which they turned into 36 points in the paint and 11 second chance points.
For IPFW, guard Deilvez Yearby showed his senior role, leading all scorers with 21 points in 24 minutes before fouling out late in the game. Forrester said his team had trouble dealing with a player of Yearby's caliber.
"He is a great athlete and a good scorer for them," Forrester said. "I just didn't think we guarded him like we talked about in our game plan."
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