Basketball Recap: Southwestern Snags Sixth Win in Last Eight Games

Southwestern hadn't done well against Hillsboro recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Thursday. The Southwestern Piasa Birds came out on top against the Hillsboro Hiltoppers by a score of 62-51. For the Piasa Birds, this counts as revenge for the 49-43 win the Hiltoppers walked away with the last time they faced one another back in February of 2024.

Southwestern can attribute much of their success to Ryan Lowis, who went 6 of 13 en route to 18 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Connor Wood, who posted nine points.

When it comes to explaining why Hillsboro lost, don't look at Nathan Matoush. Despite the final result, he almost dropped a double-double on 18 points and nine rebounds. Matoush's evening made it seven games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Jackson Tuetken, who had eight points and five boards.

Southwestern is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last eight matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 10-9 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 53.0 points per game. As for Hillsboro, their loss was their first in the conference, dropping their conference record down to 2-1 and their overall record down to 9-8.

Southwestern didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 65-16 victory against Mt. Olive on the 20th. As for Hillsboro, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next game, a 66-51 defeat against Mattoon on the 20th.