Coming off one of his best games of the season, former Edwardsville High standout Anthony Campbell is coming home.
So are Edwardsville High graduate Will Triggs and Mater Dei graduate Cory Arentsen, all key components of the Austin Peay State men's basketball team visiting Southern Illinois University Edwardsville at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Campbell had 24 points and banged home four 3-pointers in the second half Thursday as Austin Peay knocked off Eastern Illinois 71-64. He was 5-for-7 from 3-point range and also had three assists as the 6-foot-7 senior registered his eighth 20-point game this season and the 14th of his career.
He went over the 1,000-point mark this season with 20 points Nov. 20 against Berea College.
It was Austin Peay's first road win as the Governors (6-20 overall, 2-10 in the OVC) snapped an eight-game losing skid.
Campbell is Austin Peay's second-leading scorer at 14.4 points per game and also second on the team with 55 3-pointers. Triggs, a 6-6, 230-pound junior forward, is the third-leading scorer at 12 points per game and is also APSU's second-leading rebounder (5.1 per game).
Campbell is third in rebounding at 4.8 per game. He played in a combined 20 games over the past two seasons after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament that required two surgeries after tearing the knee ligament again following reconstructive surgery.
Triggs had Austin Peay's second-highest scoring outing this season with 29 points Jan. 3 at Southeast Missouri State.
Arentsen, a 6-5 freshman guard, has played in all 26 games for the Governors and averages 4.1 points with 29 3-pointers. He had six 3-pointers Nov. 28 against Berea.
Another former metro-east player on the roster is Joe Harms, an Althoff High graduate who has scored five points in five games.
The Cougars are coming off an emotional 65-60 upset victory over Murray State at the Vadalabene Center that came despite the loss of leading scorer Jerome Jones to a season-ending suspension.
Jones, a senior forward, was averaging 16.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.
SIUE's other top scorers are sophomore guard Kris Davis (10.8 ppg) and senior forward Mark Yelovich (10.7 ppg), with sophomore guard Michael Messer adding 9.2 points per game.
The Cougars have won two straight at the Vadalabene Center, including a 49-45 victory over Eastern Illinois on Feb. 2.
SIUE overcame a seven-point deficit in the first half and knocked off the 18-6 Racers.
SIUE men's basketball Head Coach Lennox Forrester talked about Jones' suspension.
"He has not met the expectations and standards I have for my team and that our department has for our student-athletes," Forrester said. "He will not play for the rest of the season, however will remain on scholarship and will receive all the academic support necessary to help him complete his degree next fall."
