Jerome Jones scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Mark Yelovich added 16 points and 11 boards as SIU-Edwardsville held off a late Eastern Kentucky surge for a 63-58 win Thursday night, sweeping the season series.
Derian Shaffer chipped in 17 points for the Cougars (9-16, 6-9 Ohio Valley Conference), who also beat the Colonels 80-74 on Feb. 4.
SIU-Edwardsville held a comfortable 57-43 advantage with 1:29 left when Eastern Kentucky used a 15-4 spurt, including eight points by Jaron Jones, to get within three, at 61-58 with 8 seconds left. After Jerome Jones hit two free throws, Eastern Kentucky's D'Mitri Riggs missed a 3-pointer.
The Cougars outshot the Colonels 44 percent (22 of 50) to 30.4 percent (21 of 69). SIU-Edwardsville was 3 of 13 from long range to Eastern Kentucky's 3 of 27.
Jaron Jones had 17 points and 14 rebound to lead the Colonels (15-15, 6-9).
