Derek Smith (left) blocks out Dan Heimos

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - Dan Heimos made his presence known to everyone around the basket Saturday afternoon in Regents Hall, and the 6-foot-11 center played a pivotal role in Southern Illinois at Edwardsville’s 65-59 win over Northern Kentucky University.

Heimos scored 16 points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked six shots as SIUE won its eighth straight game. He also made a pair of key baskets in the second half as the Cougars held off an NKU rally to escape with the victory.

Joel Jaye added 15 points and five rebounds as SIUE improved to 9-2 overall, 4-0 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Cougars shot 59.1 percent from the field and won for the second straight season in Regents Hall.

SIUE built an 11-point lead (42-31) early in the second half, but NKU used a 13-0 run to take a 44-42 advantage on Mike Kelsey’s three-point shot with 10:21 left in the game. The Cougars, however, countered with an 11-3 run to gain a 53-47 advantage on Heimos’ basket with 6:37 left.

After Kelsey cut the SIUE lead to 53-49, Heimos again answered with another inside basket to extend the Cougar advantage to 55-49.

NKU freshman center Travis Rasso, who grabbed a team-leading eight rebounds, said Heimos’ size and agility inside was a factor.

“It’s a little different,” Rasso said of guarding Heimos. “Every now and then in high school I would have to guard a guy bigger than me, but it was very rare. So, it was a little different to see someone bigger than me.”

Mike Kelsey drives to the basket

Michael Sams made five free throws in the final minute to seal the win for SIUE, which has beaten NKU three straight times. Justin Ward added 11 points for the Cougars, who are in sole possession of first place in the GLVC.

Kelsey led NKU (5-4 overall, 2-4 GLVC) with 18 points, while Derek Smith added 12 points and five rebounds. The Norse shot just 38.6 percent from the field and were 4-for-15 from three-point range. Kevin Reinhardt added 11 points for NKU.

“The close games are going to help us if we learn how to win them,” NKU head coach Dave Bezold said. “That’s the most important thing. We’ve been talking about playing winning basketball, and we did that for the first four games of the season, and it has been sporadic and inconsistent since then.

“We are going to have to do everything to evaluate why that is and work to correct it.”

Kelsey, who scored 12 points in the second half, found several openings against the SIUE defense during the 13-0 Norse run. He keyed that spurt in the second half with 10 points.

“It just came in the flow of the game. It took a while, but I started getting some open looks,” he said. “On offense, we can’t get a flow, and we are just struggling right now.”

NKU will play host to UC-Clermont at 7:45 p.m. on Dec. 22. That will also be Dave Bezold Bobblehead Doll Night, with the first 1,000 fans in attendance receiving bobblehead dolls of the NKU head coach.