CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Isiah Jones' 3-pointer fell short with two seconds left and SIU Edwardsville (6-20, 3-11) hung on for a 72-69 win over Southeast Missouri (5-22, 2-12) Thursday night at the Show Me Center.
 
Southeast trailed by eight points with 7:26 left in the game before battling back to slice SIUE's lead to 70-69 when Jones drained a 3-pointer with 16 seconds on the clock.
 
Jones' trey came immediately after Burak Eslik's two free throws gave the Cougars a four-point cushion.
 
After a 30-second timeout, Carlos Anderson threw a length of the court pass to an open Keenan Simmons, who threw down a two-handed dunk to put SIUE ahead, 72-69 with four seconds.
 
Joel Angus III inbounded the ball to Jamaal Calvin on Southeast's final chance. Calvin then passed to Jones who let a 3-pointer go from the top of the arc. Jones' shot fell short of the rim and the Cougars came away with their second-straight win.
 
"Offensively, we have to do a much better job of finishing at the rim," said Southeast head coach Rick Ray. "We had a lot of opportunities and we have to convert those. I thought our urgency at the end of the shot clock hurt us on the defensive end."
 
Southeast used an 11-0 run to build a 24-11 lead midway through the first half.
 
Antonius Cleveland ignited the surge with a 3-pointer and added four more points after that. He stole the ball from Josh White and scored on a breakaway dunk to give the Redhawks their 13-point advantage with 8:42 left to play.
 
Cleveland gave Southeast another 13-point lead when he got a steal and scored on a layup to make it 31-18 at the 4:40 mark.
 
SIUE, however, erased its double-digit deficit when it closed out the half with an 18-4 run to grab a 36-35 edge at the intermission. Five different players scored during the Cougars' late first-half jaunt.
 
Cleveland made 7-of-10 field goals and led all scorers with 17 points in the first half. He almost scored as many points as SIUE's starting five combined (20) during the game's first stanza.
 
SIUE made six 3-pointers in the second half and led by as many as nine points (55-46) when Eslik made a layup, was fouled and converted a 3-point play with 11:47 remaining.  
 
Southeast never gave up and kept chipping away, scoring 15 points in a little over seven minutes to get within one.
 
Eslik scored 24 points to lead SIUE, while Anderson and Simmons followed with 12 and 10, respectively. Eslik shot 6-of-13 from the field, made three 3-pointers and hit a near-perfect 9-of-10 free throws in 32 minutes.
 
Cleveland also finished with 24 points to lead Southeast. He made 10-of-17 field goals, dished out three assists, gathered two blocks and collected a game-high four steals.
 
Angus had 13 points and Jones pitched in 10. Both had six rebounds, as well. Additionally, Jones moved into a tie for 10^th all-time at Southeast in career 3-pointers made (114).
 
SIUE shot 46.2 percent (24-of-52) and Southeast hit 41.8 percent (24-of-55) from the field for the night. The Redhawks outrebounded the Cougars, 36-34, and made 18-of-24 free throws.
 
Southeast hosts Eastern Illinois in its final home game Saturday. Tip-off is set for 4:15 p.m., CT. Jones, a senior, will be recognized prior to the game and members of the 2015 Hall of Fame Class will be introduced at halftime.