# 2013–14 SIU Edwardsville Cougars men's basketball team

The 2013–14 SIU Edwardsville Cougars men's basketball team represented Southern Illinois University Edwardsville during the 2013–14 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cougars, led by seventh year head coach Lennox Forrester, played their home games at the Vadalabene Center and were members of the West Division of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 11–20, 7–9 in OVC play to finish in a tie for third place in the West Division. They lost in the first round of the Ohio Valley tournament to Tennessee Tech.

## Preseason

Five players returned from the 9–18 team of 2012–13; two redshirt transfers, a transfer from a top NCAA Division II program (who had also played in Division I), and four junior college transfers are newly eligible.
During the summer of 2013, Kris Davis and Donivine Stewart, along with assistant coach Deryl Cunningham, were part of a goodwill tour sponsored by Global Sports Academy that spent eight days in Europe, playing games in Belgium, England, and the Netherlands.
After three eligible junior class lettermen did not return for the Fall semester, open tryouts were held on September 13 to fill out the roster with walk-on players. Juniors Akintoye Okunrinboye and Keaton Scheer were added to the team.

## Season

During the early season, the Cougars were blown out by some strong teams such as St.Louis and Arkansas, and played close, but mostly lost to more evenly matched opponents. When OVC play began, they came together and became a tough match, gaining upset wins at home over eventual division champion Murray State and OVC tournament champ Eastern Kentucky to go with a couple of road wins. But, as the season wound down, they lost three of the last four while still qualifying for their first OVC tournament, which ended with a first round loss.
At the conclusion of the regular season, Cougars point guard Donivine Stewart was named to the Ohio Valley Conference All-Newcomer Team.

## Roster

Source =
Pink background indicates returning players from 2012–13
| # | Name | Position | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | High School | Transfer from |
| 1 | Kris Davis | Guard | 6–2 | 190 | Junior | Detroit, Michigan | Detroit Cass Technical | |
| 2 | Maurice Wiltz | Guard | 6–2 | 190 | Junior | Houston, Texas | Stafford HS | Colorado State |
| 3 | Keaton Jackson | Forward | 6–10 | 205 | Junior | Vancouver, Washington | Prairie High School | Missouri State University– West Plains (JC) |
| 4 | Tim Johnson | Guard | 6–4 | 200 | Senior | Harvey, Illinois | Lee Academy (ME) | George Washington |
| 5 | Grant Fiorentinos | Forward/Center | 6–10 | 225 | Sophomore | Cape Town, West Cape, South Africa | Hun School of Princeton (NJ) | Tulane |
| 10 | Cameron Craig | Guard | 6–0 | 190 | Junior | Coffeyville, Kansas | Field Kindley High School | Coffeyville Community College (JC) |
| 11 | Akintoye Okunrinboye | Guard | 5-11 | 180 | Junior | Florissant, Missouri | McCluer North High School | |
| 15 | Christian Salecich | Guard | 6–3 | 190 | Senior | Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia | Australian Institute of Sport | St. Louis & Missouri Southern (DII) |
| 20 | Keaton Scheer | Guard | 6-5 | 188 | Junior | Germantown, Illinois | Breese Central High School | Southwestern Illinois College (JC) |
| 23 | Rozell Nunn | Guard/Forward | 6–4 | 205 | Junior | Kansas City, Kansas | F. L. Schlagle High School | Hutchinson Community College (JC) |
| 25 | Ray Lester | Forward | 6–6 | 235 | Senior | Chicago, Illinois | Crete-Monee High School | Vincennes University (JC) |
| 30 | Michael Messer | Guard | 6–6 | 215 | Junior | Wildwood, Missouri | Lafayette High School | |
| 32 | Donivine Stewart | Guard | 6–0 | 195 | Sophomore | Peoria, Illinois | Bartonville Limestone Community High School | Bradley |

## Schedule

Source =
| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||
| 11/04/2013* 7:00 pm, OVC Digital Network | Greenville | W 97–61 | | Vadalabene Center (1,307) Edwardsville, IL |
| Regular season |||||
| 11/08/2013* 7:00 pm, RazorVision | at Arkansas | L 65–99 | 0–1 | Bud Walton Arena (12,068) Fayetteville, AR |
| 11/13/2013* 7:00 pm, FOX Sports Midwest OVC Digital Network | Saint Louis | L 58–82 | 0–2 | Vadalabene Center (4,007) Edwardsville, IL |
| 11/16/2013* 7:00 pm, OVC Digital Network | Central Arkansas | W 100–93 | 1–2 | Vadalabene Center (1,535) Edwardsville, IL |
| 11/22/2013* 5:00 pm, Big Sky Access | vs. UC Davis Portland State Tournament | L 75–80 | 1–3 | Stott Center (755) Portland, OR |
| 11/23/2013* 7:30 pm, Big Sky Access | at Portland State Portland State Tournament | L 74–77 | 1–4 | Stott Center (834) Portland, OR |
| 11/24/2013* 2:00 pm, Big Sky Access | vs. Loyola–Chicago Portland State Tournament | L 72–73 | 1–5 | Stott Center (738) Portland, OR |
| 11/26/2013* 6:00 pm, Pac-12 Network | at Oregon State | L 81–101 | 1–6 | Gill Coliseum (4,823) Corvallis, OR |
| 12/02/2013* 7:00 pm, FOX Sports Midwest OVC Digital Network | Texas–Pan American | W 55–49 | 2–6 | Vadalabene Center (1,230) Edwardsville, IL |
| 12/07/2013* 7:00 pm, OVC Digital Network | Central Michigan | L 64–65 | 2–7 | Vadalabene Center (2,116) Edwardsville, IL |
| 12/14/2013* 6:00 pm, gomastodons.com | at IPFW | L 75–95 | 2–8 | Gates Sports Center (702) Fort Wayne, IN |
| 12/16/2013* 7:00 pm, CSU-TV | at Chicago State | L 64–81 | 2–9 | Jones Convocation Center (525) Chicago, IL |
| 12/23/2013* 7:00 pm, Saluki All Access | at Southern Illinois | L 57–74 | 2–10 | SIU Arena (7,057) Carbondale, IL |
| 12/29/2013* 2:00 pm, OVC Digital Network | Robert Morris–Springfield | W 102–78 | 3–10 | Vadalabene Center (1,070) Edwardsville, IL |
| 01/02/2014 7:00 pm, OVC Digital Network | Morehead State | L 63-70 | 3–11 (0–1) | Vadalabene Center (1,111) Edwardsville, IL |
| 01/04/2014 7:00 pm, FOX Sports Midwest Plus OVC Digital Network | Eastern Kentucky | W 85–79 | 4–11 (1–1) | Vadalabene Center (1,133) Edwardsville, IL |
| 01/09/2014 7:00 pm, OVC Digital Network | at Jacksonville State | L 52–61 | 4–12 (1–2) | Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,282) Jacksonville, AL |
| 01/11/2014 7:30 pm, OVC Digital Network | at Tennessee Tech | L 63–64 | 4–13 (1–3) | Eblen Center (2,632) Cookeville, TN |
| 01/16/2014 7:00 pm, FOX Sports Midwest OVC Digital Network | Austin Peay | W 71–67 | 5–13 (2–3) | Vadalabene Center (1,359) Edwardsville, IL |
| 01/18/2014 7:00 pm, FOX Sports Midwest OVC Digital Network | Murray State | W 67–60 | 6–13 (3–3) | Vadalabene Center (2,787) Edwardsville, IL |
| 01/23/2014 7:00 pm, OVC Digital Network | at Southeast Missouri State | L 78–82 | 6–14 (3–4) | Show Me Center (1,769) Cape Girardeau, MO |
| 01/25/2014 4:00 pm, OVC Digital Network | at UT Martin | W 87–82 | 7–14 (4–4) | Skyhawk Arena (2,686) Martin, TN |
| 01/29/2014* 7:00 pm, OVC Digital Network | Crowley's Ridge | W 77–48 | 8–14 | Vadalabene Center (1,279) Edwardsville, IL |
| 02/01/2014 2:00 pm, OVC Digital Network | at Eastern Illinois | L 70–76 | 8–14 (4–5) | Lantz Arena (1,471) Charleston, IL |
| 02/06/2014 7:00 pm, OVC Digital Network | Southeast Missouri State | W 93–88 $^{OT}$ | 9–15 (5–5) | Vadalabene Center (1,403) Edwardsville, IL |
| 02/08/2014 7:00 pm, FOX Sports Midwest OVC Digital Network | UT Martin | W 84–78 | 10–15 (6–5) | Vadalabene Center (1,802) Edwardsville, IL |
| 02/13/2014 7:00 pm, OVC Digital Network | at Murray State | L 72–82 | 10–16 (6–6) | CFSB Center (3,814) Murray, KY |
| 02/15/2014 7:45 pm, OVC Digital Network | at Austin Peay | W 83–68 | 11–16 (7–6) | Dunn Center (2,840) Clarksville, TN |
| 02/20/2014 7:00 pm, OVC Digital Network | at Tennessee State | L 61–66 | 11–17 (7–7) | Gentry Complex (531) Nashville, TN |
| 02/26/2014 7:00 pm, FOX Sports Midwest OVC Digital Network | Belmont | L 75–94 | 11–18 (7–8) | Vadalabene Center (1,644) Edwardsville, IL |
| 03/01/2014 5:05 pm, FOX Sports Midwest OVC Digital Network | Eastern Illinois | L 74–78 | 11–19 (7–9) | Vadalabene Center (2,096) Edwardsville, IL |
| 2014 Ohio Valley Conference tournament |||||
| 03/05/2014 6:00 pm, ESPN3 OVC Digital Network | vs. Tennessee Tech First round | L 67–74 | 11–20 | Nashville Municipal Auditorium (1,123) Nashville, TN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||