Dillon scores 18 as Belmont downs Southern Illinois 73-68

CARBONDALE, Ill. (AP) — Eoin Dillon helped lead Belmont over Southern Illinois on Saturday with 18 points off of the bench in a 73-68 victory.

Dillon shot 6 for 8 (3 for 4 from 3-point range) and 3 of 4 from the free-throw line for the Bruins (17-3, 7-2 Missouri Valley Conference). Jack Smiley scored 14 points, also off the bench, going 5 of 7 from the floor, including 1 for 3 from 3-point range, and 3 for 3 from the line. Jabez Jenkins shot 3 of 9 from the field and 7 of 7 from the free-throw line to finish with 13 points. Sam Orme had 12 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

Drew Steffe led the way for the Salukis (8-11, 2-6) with 24 points and four assists. Southern Illinois also got 22 points and four assists from Jalen Haynes. Rolyns Aligbe finished with nine points and eight rebounds.

Belmont went into halftime leading Southern Illinois 32-24. Smiley scored eight points in the half. Sam Orme's layup with 2:06 remaining in the second half gave Belmont the lead for good at 64-62.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.