Illinois St. 59, S. Illinois 55

Illinois St. 59, S. Illinois 55

Published Jan. 23, 2011 10:22 p.m. ET

Tony Lewis scored 15 points to lead Illinois State to its first Missouri Valley Conference victory of the season, 59-55 over Southern Illinois on Sunday night.

Austin Hill added 11 points and Trey Blue scored 10 for the Redbirds (9-11, 1-8).

Carlton Fay scored 15 points for Southern Illinois (10-10, 4-5), 13 in the second half. But with the Salukis trailing 56-54 with 1:09 left, Fay missed two of three free throws after he was fouled attempting a 3-pointer. He also was called for traveling with 23.5 seconds remaining.

Lewis, who had eight rebounds, went 3 for 4 from the foul line in the final 21.7 to seal the win.

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Southern Illinois raced to a 13-2 lead, but Illinois State chipped away and eventually took a 30-29 edge into the break after Anthony Cousin made two free throws with 4.1 seconds left in the half.

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