SIUE earns 61-58 win in close contest with IUPUI

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- Burak Eslik converted a pair of free throws with eight seconds left to help Southern Illinois-Edwardsville ice a 61-58 win over Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis Saturday.

Darrell Combs hit a three-pointer with 15 seconds left to get IUPUI within a point, 59-58. After Eslik pushed the lead to three points with his free throws, Combs missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.

SIU Edwardsville struggled with 15 turnovers in the game, but outrebounded the Jaguars by 11 boards, 46-35, including 13 rebounds off the offensive glass.

Eslik was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line to finish with 13 points. The Cougars were a collective 22 of 31 from the line (71 percent) while IUPUI struggled, converting just 6 of 11 attempts (54.5 percent).

Caralos Anderson and Christian Ellis each contributed 10 points for SIU Edwardsville.

Matt O'Leary led IUPUI with 22 points and Combs contributed another 16.