CARBONDALE, Ill. (November 19, 2018) – After starting 4-0 for the first time in more than four decades, the Howard University Men's Basketball team suffered their first setback of the season after an 83-69 loss at Southern Illinois (SIU). Monday's contest is part of the Las Vegas Holiday Classic.
 
After taking a 39-33 lead at the break, SIU pulled away in the second half and outscored the Bison, 50-30.
 
"We played well against a really good team for 33 minutes," said Howard Men's Basketball head coach Kevin Nickelberry. "Unfortunately, [in order] to beat a team like Southern Illinois, we need to play well for 40 minutes."
 
HU drilled nine trey balls in the first period, led by junior guard Charles Williams (Richmond, Va.). The Virginia product had 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting in the first half and finished with a game-high 30 points.
 
Sophomore guard RJ Cole (Union, N.J.) nearly posted a double-double, registering 23 points and nine dimes in the loss.
 
"They made some adjustments at halftime," said Nickelberry on Southern Illinois. "We had the lead, but they began to deny CJ [Charles Williams] and RJ [RJ Cole] touches, which got us out of synch. We will learn from this moving forward and get better."
 
Cole and Williams combined for 32 points before halftime but were held to 21 points after intermission.
 
SIU won several categories, including bench contributions, 28-0, and points inside the paint, 34-18. Southern Illinois' big advantages throughout the evening was rebounding, 46-28, and limiting the Bison to only seven foul shots.
 
"Their size hurt us," Nickelberry stated. "Ultimately, it showed up in the rebounding column and a big part of our early success has been getting to free throw line."
 
Guard Chad Lott (Shreveport, La.) added 12 points while sophomore forward Zion Cousins (Upper Marlboro, Md.) had a team-best seven boards off the bench.
 
For SIU (2-2), they finished shooting just over 49-percent (30-of-61) from the floor, including 57-percent (19-of-33) after the break.
 
Marcus Bartley led the squad with 18 points while Sean Lloyd and Darius Beane chipped in 17 and 12, respectively.
 
On Nov. 23-24, Howard goes to Little Rock, Ark. where they will compete in a four-team tourney as part of the Las Vegas Holiday Invitational.
 
HU squares off against host Little Rock Friday at 4:30 p.m. (ET)
 
For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at www.HUBison.com.