Southern Illinois (4-0) took advantage of a cold shooting UTEP team to claim the Las Vegas Holiday Invitational title 68-62 at the Valley High School Gym on Saturday evening.
UTEP (3-1) sprinted out of the gates going up 13-5 over the first seven and a half minutes.
Omar Thomas scored nine of his 18 points over the first three minutes, including hitting his second three-pointer of his Miner career. His other three came against Nevada at the WAC Tournament on March, 13, 2004.
A 16-point swing by SIU gave the Salukis a 31-23 lead with just under four minutes left in the first period.
The Miners cut the lead to four, 33-29, at the break.
UTEP regained the lead quickly in the second half going up 48-43 with 11:02 remaining on a bucket by Jason Williams.
The Miner advantage was short lived as they went the next eight and a half minutes without a field goal. SIU led 59-54 at the 2:09 mark.
UTEP was without Thomas over most of the final eight minutes of the game after he picked up his fourth foul at the 7:41 mark.
SIU went seven-for-eight down the stretch from the free throw line to secure the victory with Stetson Hairston hitting on five out of six of his tries. The Salukis finished at 88.2 percent (15-for-17) from the line on the night.
The Miners struggled from the charity stripe, shooting 65.0 percent (13-for-20) and saw their 52 percent shooting in the first half decline to 42.3 percent in the second frame. UTEP was additionally one for nine from outside.
Fili Rivera additionally added 15 points and three assists, while Williams had 10 points and five rebounds.
UTEP’s Thomas and Will Kimble were each named to the All-Tournament team.
For SIU, Hairston finished with 16 points and Darren Brooks and LaMar Owen had 14 and 11, respectively.
SIU now holds a 2-1 lead in the series.
The Miners will next host IUFW at the Don Haskins Center on Tuesday, Nov. 30 at 7:05 p.m. MST.
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