Steven Verplancken scored 18 points and Marcus Domask added 17 as Southern Illinois held on for a 67-63 victory over Colorado in the quarterfinals of the Paradise Jam on Friday at St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.
Lance Jones added 14 points for the Salukis (2-1), who advanced to Sunday’s semifinal against Northeastern (2-2), which defeated Duquesne 71-55 earlier on Friday. Colorado (3-1) will face Duquesne (1-3) in the consolation bracket on Saturday.
After Jabari Walker’s jumper pulled the Buffaloes to within 57-54 with 4:34 remaining, Verplancken made his biggest shot of the night. It appeared Southern Illinois was going to turn the ball over on a shot-clock violation after Colorado knocked the ball past half-court, but Verplancken picked it up and banked-in a 3-pointer from just inside midcourt for a 60-54 lead with just under four minutes left.
Colorado pulled to within 60-58 on Tristan da Silva’s free throw with 1:33 remaining, but that’s as close as the Buffaloes would get.
Domask hit a free throw for a 61-58 lead with 1:02 remaining and Colorado turned the ball over on its ensuing possession with 50.5 seconds left. Verplancken’s dunk extended the lead to 63-58 and after Colorado failed to score on its next possession, the Salukis closed it out at the free-throw line.
The Salukis shot 44.9 percent (22-for-49) from the field and 41.4 percent (12-for-29) from 3-point range.
Walker led the Buffaloes with 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting, while da Sliva added 15 points and a game-high seven rebounds and Evan Battey and Keeshawn Barthelemy had 12 points apiece. Though the Buffaloes shot 50 percent (25-for-50) from the floor, they made just four of their 14 3-point attempts.
Colorado tried to make short work of the Salukis from the opening tip. The Buffaloes scored 11 of the game’s first 12 points and held the Salukis without a field goal until Domask’s 3-pointer pulled Southern Illinois to within 12-4 with 13:13 left in the first half.
But the Buffaloes couldn’t put the game away because they struggled offensively after their strong start. Colorado made just eight field goals in the first half and just one of eight shots from beyond the arc, enabling the Salukis to rally.
The Salukis took advantage of Colorado’s dry spell to take a 27-19 lead at halftime on the strength of making five of their 17 3-point attempts.
–Field Level Media
