The 16th-ranked Southern Illinois Salukis hit two big baskets and then made six straight free throws for an 11-4 run in the last 2:08 minutes of the contest to claim a 51-47 defensive battle from the Missouri State Bears in Missouri Valley Conference basketball action at Hammons Student Center Tuesday night.

    After Missouri State took its biggest lead of the night at 43-40, SIU got back within a point with 2:08 to play when Randal Falker scored from underneath. SIU got a defensive stop and the Salukis’ big basket came from Jamaal Tatum as he connected from three-point range on the left wing with 1:12 remaining to put the visitors ahead by two. The final minute of the contest saw Tatum nail four straight free throws and Wesley Clemmons hit two while the Bears could only muster buckets from Tyler Chaney and Dale Lamberth.

    The MVC-leading Salukis won their eighth game in a row and moved a step closer to a Valley title as they climbed to 13-3 in league play and 22-5 for the season. Missouri State saw an end to its five-game winning streak as the Bears dipped to 10-6 overall and 19-8 for the season. MSU remains alone in third place in the league with two games remaining.

    It was Chaney who got the Bears their 43-40 margin as he scored with 4:13 to play and again at the 3:17 mark to overcome a 40-39 SIU advantage. Then, with the lead and the ball, Chaney was whistled for a charge as he dropped in another shot at the 2:22 mark. It was the fifth time in the contest the Bears were called for a charge after they hit a shot.

    Down 27-22 at the half, the Bears came out on fire to start the last period. A three by Blake Ahearn and a free throw and a jumper by Drew Richards gave Missouri State its first lead of the game at 28-27. From there, the contest was tied four times with seven more lead changes as both sides came up with big stops on defense while the clock wound down. In the last 19 minutes of the game, neither side was up by more than three points until the final four seconds.

    SIU took a 6-0 lead at the outset and the Bears pulled back within one at 6-5 and 11-10. From there, the Salukis stretched their margin to as many as nine at 22-13. Chaney hit six straight points to cut the gap to 22-20 before SIU regained a five-point margin at the intermission.

    The Bears missed seven of 16 free throws in the first half and shot only .600 (15/25) from the line for the game while SIU canned 13-of-16. The Bears had a 32-31 rebound advantage but their 18 turnovers included the five charging calls.Missouri State hit 50 percent (9/18) from the field in the second half but only .263 (5/19) the first half to finish at .378. MSU held SIU to .327 (17/52) accuracy for the game, the Salukis’ lowest shooting night of the season, as the visitors hit just seven of 25 shots the second half. But, SIU canned nine of its 10 free throws after intermission to prevail.

    Other than the two free throws by Clemmons with 14 seconds left, all of SIU’s second half points came from Falker and Tatum. Falker finished the game with 20 points and 12 boards and hit 8-of-11 from the floor while Tatum connected on just 5-of-18 shots and scored 16 points.

    Chaney led the Bears with 13 points as he went past the 900-point mark for his Missouri State career. Lamberth was the only other MSU double-figure scorer with 11.

    Missouri State steps out of Valley action this weekend as the Bears host the Winthrop University Eagles of the Big South Conference in an O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters game Friday, Feb. 16, in Hammons. The nationally-televised game will tip off at 6:05 p.m.