Chicago State sheds record losing streak on the road, 89-81

Dec 5, 2019, 01:55 pm

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- Xavier Johnson and Andrew Lewis combined for 41 points and Chicago State rallied past SIU-Edwardsville in the second half to claim an 89-81 victory Wednesday night that broke a near-record losing streak.

The Cougars entered with a 53-game losing streak on the road or at neutral sites. The NCAA record is 56.

Chicago State (4-6) trailed by double digits much of the first half until closing on a 13-2 run, cutting SIUE's lead to 42-41 at halftime.

Amir Gholizadeh scored from distance, rebounded a SIUE miss leading to a fastbreak layup by Solomon Hunt for a 46-45 lead two minutes into the second half.

SIU-Edwardsville came within 53-50 with 11:21 remaining, but Andrew Lewis scored on a putback and Rajeir Jones nailed a 3 off a steal and the Cougars built leads as large as 11 points. Points, 16 coming in the turnaround second half.

Johnson made six free throws as Chicago State was 8-for-8 at the line in the final 41 seconds.

Johnson, who finished with 23 points and five assists, made all 13 free throws, the Cougars were 25-for-27 at the line and shot 58% from the field (28-for-48). Andrew Lewis scored 18

Zeke Moore poured in a career-high 28 points for SIUE (2-7) on 11-for-16 shooting with four 3-pointers. SIU-Edwardsville has lost its last five.

Chicago State plays Tennessee State on the road on Friday. Southern Illinois-Edwardsville plays Northwestern on the road next Sunday.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com