ST. LOUIS (AP) -Matt Shaw's tip-in with 3.2 seconds remaining gave No. 11 Southern Illinois a 53-51 victory over Bradley in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament Saturday.
Jamaal Tatum had 20 points and was 4-for-5 from 3-point range for the Salukis (27-5), who have won 13 straight. Southern Illinois will play the winner of the Creighton-Missouri State semifinal Sunday, with a chance to become the first Valley regular-season champion since 1998 to also win the conference tournament.
Southern Illinois has won the regular-season title in five of the last six years, and won the conference tournament last March as the No. 2 seed. Shaw, who had 11 points, gave the Salukis a chance to end that trend when he tipped in Tatum's too-strong bid for a layup.
Jeremy Crouch had 14 points, while also going 4-for-5 from 3-point range for fourth-seeded Bradley (21-12). The Braves, one of a handful of Valley teams with NCAA tournament aspirations, beat Northern Iowa in the quarterfinals on Will Franklin's 3-pointer with 2.7 seconds left.
Daniel Ruffin added 12 points for the Braves, while Franklin was held to five points on 1-for-9 shooting. Ruffin's long 3-point attempt from just across the center line bounced off the top of the backboard at the buzzer.
Shaw added 11 points for Southern Illinois, which split a pair of regular-season meetings with Bradley.
Bradley led by as many as eight points in the second half, pulling away from a tie at the break.
The Braves, the nation's top 3-point shooting team at 42 percent, were 6-of-12 during one stretch before missing four of their last five attempts. Southern Illinois trailed 39-31 with 14:37 to go, but rallied to tie it at 42 with about 7 1/2 minutes left.
Randal Falker made one of two foul shots with 23.9 seconds to go to put Southern Illinois ahead 51-49. Zach Andrews' layup tied it with 16 seconds to go.
The semifinals drew the first sellout in Valley tournament history and paid attendance of 22,612 also was a record for the Scottrade Center, reflecting the growth of the mid-major conference which was ranked sixth in the latest RPI.
Southern Illinois missed its first eight shots and had two turnovers, one on a 5-second inbounds call, before reserve Tyrone Green made a fastbreak layup and then completed a three-point play with 13:47 to go in the half. Strong defense kept it from being much of a hole and the teams went to the break tied at 26.
