EDWARDSVILLE – Shamar Wright's third 20-point performance and Damarco Minor's third double-double paced SIUE men's basketball in an 86-62 defeat of Missouri Baptist Tuesday at First Community Arena.
SIUE won for the fourth time in five games overall and improved to 3-0 at home and 5-3 overall. Missouri Baptist is 6-2.
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"Our guys bought in and respected our opponent," SIUE Head Coach Brian Barone said. "We came out the right way defensively."
Shamar Wright scored a game-high 24 points on eight-of-12 shooting. He hit three three-pointers. Minor scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
"He let it come to him a little bit," Barone said of Shamar's performance. "He picked his spots early and he got to the rim a little bit in the second half."
"Guys are finding guys where they want the ball," Shamar Wright said. "It just makes it easy for all of us."
The Cougars used a 14-0 run midway through the first half to push the lead to 46-22 at halftime. SIUE stretched the advantage to as many as 38 (74-36) in the second half following a free throw by Arnas Sakenis.
Lamar Wright (15) and Ray'Sean Taylor (12) also scored in double figures for the Cougars. Taylor finished with a season-high eight assists. Minor added four assists and Lamar Wright dished out three. SIUE finished with a season-best 20 assists as a team.
"I've made an emphasis of trying to get them the ball to the spots I know they like the ball," Taylor said of his passing game.
The Cougars connected on 51 percent (29-57) of their shots from the field and were 10-22 from three-point range.
SIUE outrebounded Missouri Baptist 44-35.
Missouri Baptist was led by Breven McMullen's 15 points. Sterling Benjamin scored 10 and grabbed nine rebounds.
SIUE heads back on the road for a Friday game at Troy. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.
