The prospects of winning looked bleak for the SIU men's basketball team at halftime as it trailed by 11 points on its home court.
But another strong second half showing for the Salukis propelled them to an 80-73 win against the University of Massachusetts and a date with Duke University in New York City as SIU won the Carbondale regional finals of the 2K Sports Classic tournament.
Sophomore forward Carlton Fay paved the way for the win with 17 points en route to being named the Carbondale Region's Most Valuable Player.
Head coach Chris Lowery said Fay's offensive effort helped spark the team's second victory in as many nights.
"Carlton was a big part of what we were doing offensively and when he's not in foul trouble, he's special," Lowery said. "We ran some stuff for him and he made some great individual plays after the catch."
Fay was one of four SIU players to score in double figures as he was joined by seniors Bryan Mullins (16 points), Tony Boyle (12) and freshman Kevin Dillard (14) who helped start the comeback run.
The Salukis trailed the Minutemen 39-28 at halftime as SIU struggled again in the first half. The team shot 36-percent from the field and only went to the free-throw line four times. Compounding the Salukis' issues was their inability to knock down 3-point shots as it was shutout in its attempts from beyond the arc.
That changed in the second half.
Fay, Mullins and Dillard combined to score the team's first 17 points out of the break. Dillard's three-point field goal in front of the SIU bench cut the 11-point halftime deficit to one with 14 minutes, 41 seconds remaining in the second half.
The Salukis would then take a 53-51 lead on Dillard's fourth three-point make of the half. It was the team's first since opening the game with a 2-0 lead.
Even with the swift second-half surge, it wasn't smooth sailing for the Salukis.
The Salukis took their final lead of the game with 2:51 left in the half when Fay knocked down an open three-point shot to give SIU a 70-67 lead. There was no need to look back after that.
Pick up Thursday's Daily Egyptian for a full recap of the comeback victory.
