Written by
The Sports Network
Cedar Falls, IA (Sports Network) - Deon Mitchell scored a game-high 17 points
as the Northern Iowa Panthers came back to beat the Southern Illinois Salukis
58-49 in Missouri Valley Conference play at McLeod Center.
Mitchell finished just 3-of-11 from the field but 10-of-13 from the foul-line
for Northern Iowa (15-9, 5-7 MVC). Chip Rank came off the bench to score 13
for the Panthers, who snapped a two-game slide.
For Southern Illinois (7-16, 4-8), Jeff Early tallied 13 points and Mamadou
Seck added 10 points and eight rebounds. The Salukis have lost four of their
last five.
Southern Illinois held a 22-19 lead at half. Both teams shot poorly in the
frame, with the Salukis making 30.8 percent of their field goals and the
Panthers connecting on just 28.6 percent of theirs.
The Salukis were leading 39-36 with 8:09 left in the game before the Panthers
went on a 9-2 run to take a 45-41 lead with just over five minutes to play. A
Kendal Brown-Surles three-pointer moments later cut the Southern Illinois
deficit to one, 45-44, but that's as close as the Salukis would get as
Northern Iowa finished the game on a 13-5 run.
Northern Iowa went to the foul-line more than twice as much as Southern
Illinois, converting 20-of-28 from the stripe compared to 8-of-12 for the
Salukis.
GAME NOTES:
The Sports Network