Valley OT Sweep of OVC

(St. Louis, MO) – Missouri Valley Conference teams have been on the short side of several close games lately, but Monday night they turned the tide against two Ohio Valley Conference teams. Bradley and Southern Illinois won overtime thrillers against Eastern Illinois and Murray State respectively. The unique OT twin killing was the first in the Valley since November 26, 2005.

Bradley visited EIU’s Lantz Arena and pulled out an 87-83 win over the Panthers. Bradley opened the overtime with an 11-2 run and then held on for their fourth win of the year and their first road win of the season. Both teams are 4-3.

The visitors were sparked by Koch Bar’s double-double (17 points and 14 rebounds). EIU newcomer Muusa Dama was a worthy combatant for Bar responding with a double-double of his own (12 points and 11 rebounds). Panther senior Demetrius McReynolds led all scorers with 25 points.

Southern Illinois hosted Murray State and won the overtime game on a last second tip in by Sean O’Brien. That basket gave the Salukis an 87-85 lead that was extended to the final 89-85 score after an MSU turnover and foul put Mike Rodriguez at the line where he made two free throws for the final score.

Rodriguez led SIU (4-3) with 21 points. Reigning OVC Newcomer of the Week, Jonathan Clark led the Racers (3-4) with 29 points and eight assists.

The Valley has now won six of the first seven games between the two leagues with eight left on the schedule.

Despite those two losses, it was a productive night for the OVC.

Belmont, Jacksonville State and Tennessee Martin were victorious in closely contested games. However, Tennessee State sustained it’s first loss of the year. The Tigers lost 83-59 at Vanderbilt

In other MVC action, Wichita State ended a two game losing streak with a 30 point win (87-57) over Division 2 Southern Nazarene.

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