Carbondale Reporter

Southern Illinois University faced a challenging game against High Point, losing 94-81 at Banterra Center. Senior player Ali Dibba scored a career-high of 27 points, marking his second game this season with over 20 points.

Head coach Scott Nagy expressed concerns about the team's recurring issues: "We just continue to get off to bad starts. I don't know exactly what it is, but we struggle to know scouts, our communication level, and just simple mistakes, particularly at the start of games," he said. "When I see us make those mistakes over and over at some point as a coach you have to make some changes."

High Point took an early lead and maintained it throughout the game. Southern Illinois made efforts to close the gap with an 8-2 run in the first half, but High Point responded with a 12-1 run. At halftime, Southern Illinois trailed by 14 points.

In the second half, Southern Illinois managed a brief comeback but was unable to sustain momentum. Titus Anderson extended High Point's lead to 16 points with eight minutes left in the game.

Dibba contributed significantly in the second half, scoring 15 of his total points then. He finished with nine field goals from sixteen attempts and seven rebounds. Davion Sykes added ten points for Southern Illinois.

The Salukis struggled with turnovers, committing 14 that led to 18 points for High Point. In contrast, High Point shot efficiently at 58 percent from the floor compared to Southern Illinois' 46 percent.

High Point's D'Maurian Williams led his team with 24 points while Keeza Giffa added another 19 points.

Looking ahead, Southern Illinois will face Northern Iowa on December 29 as they resume Missouri Valley Conference play.