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EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Mark Yelovich scored a game-high 24 points and SIU Edwardsville (7-10, 3-4) used a big second-half run to hang on for an 80-77 win over Southeast Missouri (11-11, 3-5) Thursday night in a barn-burner at the Vadalabene Center.

The first 12:38 of the second half was the difference in a game that went down to the wire.

Southeast led, 48-39, after Tyler Stone made a jumper with 19:06 left in the second half before SIUE went on a 26-4 run to build a 65-52 advantage.

The Cougars scored 11-straight points to ignite the surge and took the lead (50-48) when Yelovich buried a jumper. Yelovich scored six points during a stretch that ended with SIUE knocking down three 3-pointers. Jerome Jones' trey capped the flurry at the 7:22 mark.

"We simply had no answer for Yelovich and that 12-minute stretch in the second half really hurt us," said Southeast head coach Dickey Nutt. "We just weren't tough enough defensively."

SIUE was red-hot in the second half, shooting 56.5 percent (13-of-23) from the field and 66.7 percent (4-of-6) from three-point range.

However, Southeast wasn't finished just yet.

The Redhawks forced a turnover on four-straight SIUE possessions and closed the gap to 65-62 on A.J. Jones' free throws with 5:25 remaining.

Yelovich countered by scoring three consecutive points to push the Cougars lead to 68-62, but Nino Johnson and Nick Niemczyk combined to hit three free throws to make it a three-point game again.

Southeast later chopped SIUE's lead to two (69-67) when Stone made a layup with 2:22 left.

Then, the Redhawks trailed by either two or three on four occasions in the final 40 seconds.

Immediately following Yelovich's dunk gave SIUE a 75-69 cushion, Marland Smith drained a three-pointer to slice the lead in half.

The Redhawks got a stop, but came up empty on their next possession when Niemczyk missed a jumper. Southeast had to foul and Michael Messer sunk two free throws before Niemczyk knocked down a three to narrow SIUE's lead to 77-75 with 16 seconds.

Clinging to a 78-75 lead after Messer split a pair of free throws, Corey Wilford had a good look, but his three-pointer bounced off the rim with eight seconds.

Tim Johnson's free throws gave SIUE an 80-75 advantage before Smith's layup narrowed the lead to three. After SIUE missed two free throws, Wilford grabbed the rebound and quickly heaved fullcourt shot which fell short at the buzzer.

Both teams started strong, shooting over 60 percent from the field in the first nine minutes of the game.

Southeast made seven of its first nine field goals and rallied behind Wilford's 14 points to build a 43-39 halftime lead. Tonight's loss dropped the Redhawks to 10-4 when leading at the half this season.

Wilford scored nine of the Redhawks first 12 points of the game and drained two threes as he missed only one field goal during the opening stanza.

Yelovich shot 9-of-15 from the field and a near-perfect 5-of-6 at the free throw line en route to his season-high. He also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.

Jones, who hit four of SIUE's seven three-pointers, followed with 19 points.

Messer and Kris Davis also scored double figures with 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Wilford was Southeast's top scorer with 21 points. He hit 8-of-14 field goals, 3-of-6 three-pointers and 2-of-2 free throws in 30 minutes.

Smith added 15 points, Jones followed with 12 and Stone chipped in 11.

After shooting 56.3 percent in the first half, Southeast cooled off to shoot under 40 percent (39.3) from the field in the second period.

Southeast, which is on a three-game Ohio Valley Conference road losing streak, heads to Eastern Illinois Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m., CT, at Lantz Arena.