EDWARDSVILLE – Jordan Pickett fueled a second-half surge and SIUE men’s basketball pushed past Concordia-Chicago 85-61 at First Community Arena Wednesday.
Pickett finished with a career-high 19 points, including 17 in the second half, as SIUE improved to 2-0 to start the season.
Concordia led by as many as six midway through a first half which saw 11 lead changes and five ties in a matchup of Cougars vs. Cougars.
Gianni Cobb’s driving layup at the buzzer gave SIUE a 35-34 lead at the half.
CUC led by three early in the half, when SIUE used a 14-0 run to take control. A Pickett three-pointer made It 53-42 SIUE with 13:16 to play. A pair of free throws from Jayden Riley extended the SIUE lead to 61-46 with 9:17 left.
Pickett scored on a fast-break layup with 5:43 to play then following a steal by Brennan Miller and a feed from David Wilson, buried another three to swell the SIUE lead to 20 (72-52).
Harrison Alexander hit a three-pointer with 2:23 to play and another two minutes laterto give SIUE its largest lead at 83-56 with 23 seconds left.
Pickett went 7-10 from the field and 3-4 from three-point range in the second half. SIUE shot 52 percent (32-62) for the game and was 18-31 (58 percent) in the second half. SIUE also went 7-12 (58 percent) from three-point range after halftime.
SIUE outrebounded Concordia 37-25 and finished with a 23-8 advantage in fast-break points and a 42-30 advantage in points in the paint.
Wilson and Miller each finished with 12 points. Miller added seven rebounds, two steals and four blocks. Wilson grabbed six boards and added two steals and three blocks. Cobb scored 10 points and handed out three assists.
Dehrio McCaskill scored eight points, pulled down six rebounds and added four assists. Jayden Riley scored six points off the bench and dished out a game-high five assists.
St. Louisan Jacob Robinson scored 17 points to lead Concordia. Matthew Guthrie added 13. Concordia shot 43 percent (23-53) for the game.
SIUE now heads on the road for three straight away from Edwardsville, beginning Saturday afternoon at Lipscomb in Nashville, Tennessee. Tipoff is slated for 4 p.m.
