Carlton Fay scored 16 points and hit a tie-breaking jumper with 2 seconds remaining to lift Southern Illinois to a 57-55 victory over Northern Iowa on Saturday.
Kendal Brown-Surles added 14 points and Mykel Cleveland had 10 for the Salukis (7-6, 1-1 Missouri Valley), who ended a five-game losing streak to the Panthers.
Kwadzo Ahelegbe scored 18 points to lead Northern Iowa (9-5, 0-2), which lost consecutive games for the first time since February 2009. Anthony James had 13 points.
Down 55-48 with 1:37 to play, the Panthers rallied with four free throws from Ahelegbe and a 3-pointer from Johnny Moran by to tie it with 38 seconds remaining.
Southern Illinois trailed by 13 in the first half and went into intermission down 33-29. Cleveland's jumper with 9:19 to play gave the Salukis a 43-42 lead, and they never trailed again.
