The Southwestern Piasa Birds just played last yesterday, but they'll still welcome the SIUE East St. Louis Charter Cougars at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. Southwestern has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.
Southwestern is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They fell just short of Valmeyer by a score of 66-63 on Friday. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Friday (56), the Piasa Birds still had to take the loss.
| 11/25/23 vs Staunton | 26 |
| 12/27/24 vs Valmeyer | 24 |
| 12/27/24 vs Dupo | 22 |
| 12/15/23 vs North Mac | 21 |
| 12/27/23 vs Maryville Christian | 19 |
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Ryan Lowis, who shot 4-for-7 from downtown and dropped a double-double on 24 points and 15 boards. That's the most points he has posted since back in November of 2023. Another player making a difference was Cason Robinson, who posted 14 points and four steals.
Meanwhile, SIUE East St. Louis Charter came up short against North County Christian last Thursday and fell 68-58. Even though they lost, the Cougars' still made a splash on offense and bumped their average scoring up to 51 points per game (they're now ranked -1th in scoring overall).
Southwestern will have to contain Breon Johnson as he made an impact in SIUE East St. Louis Charter's last game. He dropped a double-double on 22 points and ten boards. Johnson's evening made it three games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. Kejuan Rives was another key player, dropping a double-double on 18 points and 12 boards.
Even though they lost, SIUE East St. Louis Charter smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 23 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in seven consecutive games.
SIUE East St. Louis Charter has been struggling recently as they've lost four of their last five contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 2-5 record this season. That patch can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 51.8 points per game. As for Southwestern, they moved to 8-8 with that loss, which also ended their four-game winning streak.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Southwestern has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 22.3 rebounds per game. However, it's not like SIUE East St. Louis Charter struggles in that department as they've been averaging 33.3 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Southwestern took their victory against SIUE East St. Louis Charter when the teams last played back in December of 2023 by a conclusive 76-50. Does Southwestern have another victory up their sleeve, or will SIUE East St. Louis Charter turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
