EVANSVILLE, Ind. – SIUE men’s basketball captured its first Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Championship, defeating top-seed Southeast Missouri 69-48 at the Ford Center Saturday. The win secures the Cougars’ first title and the first-ever trip to the Division basketball championship.

SIUE (22-11) will learn its tournament fate Sunday, March 16 when the NCAA Brackets are revealed at 5 p.m. CT.

The Cougars held the league’s highest scoring team to its lowest point total of the season.

The Cougars led by 11 (35-24) at half and withstood a furious run from the Redhawks at the start of the second half. SEMO tied the score at 38 but never overtook the Cougars.

Ray’Sean Taylor led all scorers with 20 points and in the process became SIUE’s all-time leading scorer. Taylor now has 1,952 points in his career. Taylor earned Most Valuable Player honors after scoring 24 points in the semifinal.

Ring Malith (12 points) and Myles Thompson (9 points) joined Taylor on the All-Tournament team.