The South Florida connection of Sam Griffin and Tim Dalger wasn't going to be denied. The hard-working newcomers were relentless.

Griffin scored 20 and Dalger added 12, and both were huge down the stretch to lead TU to a 69-65 win over former Missouri Valley Conference rival Southern Illinois on Saturday afternoon in front of a crowd of 2,388 at the Reynolds Center.

The roommates were especially clutch in the second half, as Griffin scored 12 and Dalger had 8 in the final stanza, frequently driving to the basket as the game was being decided in a nail-biter.

"Me and Tim go way back. I trust him like my brother," Griffin said of Dalger. "He's my closest friend on the team. He puts in the work, just like I do. You see the results.

"He (Dalger) has natural abilities you can't teach. The sky's the limit for him. He's my boy."

The 6-foot-7 Dalger, from Fort Lauderdale, 25 miles north of Miami - Griffin's hometown, also pulled in 6 rebounds in 30 minutes of playing time. He came into the game averaging 5.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 17 minutes per game.

Griffin (a transfer from UT Arlington) and Dalger (a transfer from Independence CC) used to play against each other frequently in high school, with Griffin's Westminster HS coming out on top over Dalger's Calvary Christian Academy.

Both players went to the free throw line 7 times in the game, with Griffin (15.8 ppg) making 6 and Dalger making 4. Tulsa made 18 of 24 (75 percent), while SIU only took 7 free throws, making 4. Tulsa only took 24 free throws combined in the last 3 games.

Tulsa head coach Frank Haith, who has spent a ton of time in South Florida dating back to his head coaching job at Miami, was glad the South Floridians were able to get to the free throw line.

"It was good to get into a situation where we were able to finish the game and win like we're capable of winning," said Haith. "This is how we win. We get to the free throw line. We get stops. We execute down the stretch.

"I talked to Sam last night on the phone about not settling and driving the ball, and he gets to the free throw line 7 times.

"When you get the ball in the paint, the referee isn't going to bail you out, even if there is contact, if you're not aggressive and have some intensity with your attack."

Tulsa (5-5) was coming off three consecutive losses where it couldn't finish off opponents. Griffin echoed Haith's comments about intensity.

"We locked in defensively, and we rebounded, which was a big part," Griffin said. "On offense, we didn't settle for the threes. We got to the free throw line and made plays downhill. We were way more aggressive. We were way more physical and way more dominant."

With both teams scorching nets in the first half, Jeriah Horne led the way in the half with 15 points. Tulsa got out to a 10-point lead at 48-38 early in the second half, but SIU wouldn't go away.

Tulsa made 7 of 11 (63.6 percent) three-pointers in the first half, but only took 3 three-pointers in the second half, without making any. The Salukis made 8 of 16 threes in the first half (50 percent), and finished 15 of 34 (44.1 percent) behind the arc.

Southern Illinois (5-4), a quality team with a win over Colorado this season, whittled down the Tulsa lead and finally tied the game at 60-60 with just over three minutes remaining.

The Golden Hurricane got the lead back with 2:13 left when Griffin made 2 free throws after using that aggressiveness driving to the hoop. Curtis Haywood made 2 free throws with 1:29 remaining to extend the lead to 64-60, and Griffin made a free throw with 49.2 seconds left.

But the Salukis' Markus Domask (16 points) hit a three with 36.5 seconds left, and the lead was only 65-63. But Griffin broke away on a fast break layup to counter SIU's full-court press, and then Dalger stole the ball and was fouled with 22.1 seconds remaining. He made his free throws, and Tulsa led 69-63.

Another Tulsa stop, which it continually accomplished down the stretch, and the game was over.

Haywood came up with a big performance on defense during the game, and especially in the final minutes. In 28 minutes of playing time, Haywood had 9 rebounds and 2 steals to go with scoring 8 points. Often struggling to hit threes while at TU, Haywood made 2 triples in the first half, finishing 2 of 3 from behind the arc.

"He's our best defensive player right now," Haith said of Haywood. "He understands his role, he's embracing his role. He's doing a great job. I think he's only going to continue to get better and stay confident in what he's doing. We really need his aggressiveness and assertiveness on the defensive end."

Dalger's emergence was huge for a Golden Hurricane squad which only played 8 players - Griffin, Dalger, Haywood, Horne, Anthony Pritchard, Darien Jackson, Rey Idowu and Gavyn Elkamil.

"Getting in double figures and being that third scorer, I think Tim has the best chance on our team to be that guy," Haith said.

"Tim is a gym rat. We do kind of have that feel with some of our new guys. They stay in the gym. Guys like Tim and Anthony and Sam and Gavyn, those guys, they are always in the gym."

Dalger was on the court after the game practicing his shooting.

Southern Illinois was led by Little Rock transfer Ben Coupet, who hit 6 of 11 threes (55.4 percent) on the way to 27 points. Coupet had made only 8 of 28 threes (28.6 percent) coming into the game, and was only averaging 8.6 points.

Tulsa's next opponent is Alcorn State on Thursday night.