Carbondale Reporter

Coach Scott Nagy's Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball team secured an 86–76 exhibition victory over Lindenwood on Wednesday night at Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Missouri.

The Salukis used a wide rotation, with eleven players seeing action and nine playing at least 13 minutes. However, Coach Nagy indicated this approach will likely change as the season progresses. "I can just tell that my bench is going to start getting shorter," Nagy said. "There are certain guys who are going to play more minutes. I think we just wore them down. They were missing three guys, and we were playing everybody."

SIU had a slow start for the second consecutive exhibition game, trailing 6–0 early and allowing Lindenwood to shoot 55 percent in the first half. Despite being behind in rebounds (17–14) and assists (11–7), SIU entered halftime tied at 39.

Isaiah Stafford led SIU in scoring during the first half, making four of six shots from the field and both of his three-point attempts for ten points before halftime. He finished with a team-high 18 points, six assists, and four rebounds after adding two important three-pointers late in the game.

The second half featured several momentum swings, including a sequence where Jorge Moreno scored twice following a steal by Damien Mayo Jr., though SIU missed an alley-oop attempt shortly after. With under 13 minutes left, SIU completed a 13–5 run to take a 54–46 lead. Lindenwood answered with an eight-point run but could not regain control as SIU held firm for the win.

Rolyns Aligbe was key in the closing stages, scoring 13 of his 17 points in the second half and collecting all nine of his rebounds after halftime. His late three-point play helped secure the result for SIU. "I feel like I know what I have to bring to the team each night," Aligbe said. "I feel like I found what I need to do for the team."

Nagy's starting lineup consisted of Davion Sykes, Jalen Haynes, Stafford, Moreno, and Mayo Jr., with Nagy offering praise for Haynes' performance: "He plays both sides of the ball. He's still a freshman, but he's 6-foot-3 and ultra-athletic," Nagy said. "He's always in a good mood, even if I yell at him. He has good juice to him. As a freshman, he's going to be a heck of a good player for us."

Other notable contributors included Prince Aligbe with twelve points; Moreno with seven points and six rebounds; Mayo Jr., who added seven points along with four rebounds and three assists; Sykes with six points; Jaheem Webber contributing seven points; and Quel'Ron House adding six.

For Lindenwood, Milos Nenadic led all scorers with twenty-one points while Jeremiah Talton added sixteen.

Southern Illinois will begin its regular season on Monday, November 3 at Banterra Center against McKendree University at 7 p.m., with tickets available online through saluk.is/HomeOpener as well as options for season tickets or special multi-game packs at saluk.is/SeasonTicketsMBB, saluk.is/RivalryPack and saluk.is/Pick3Pack.