By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

MACOMB, Ill. — Every one of the eight consecutive losses has hurt.

This one was especially painful.

Western Illinois’ 69-65 loss to SIU-Edwardsville on Saturday at Western Hall extended a losing skid that started in early January and hasn’t subsided.

The Leathernecks fell to 8-15 overall, 2-10 and in last place in the Ohio Valley Conference, chasing a victory they can’t seem to get, even with how they fought in this game.

“It stings,” coach Chad Boudreau said, trying to smile. “But the whole season has stung. I’m swollen. I’m allergic to this.”

Boudreau pointed out a painful reminder he could see on the calendar.

“A year ago, we’re coming home from (Southeast Missouri State) tied for first place in the conference,” Boudreau said. “We played probably one of our best games in the second half of the year, we’re tied for first. Right now, we’re dead last in the conference. That’s how quickly things can change.”

There have been other close losses in this streak. The first loss was an 85-83 overtime home loss to UT-Martin, and there was the 51-47 loss at Morehead State when the Leathernecks were up by five points at halftime.

The last four defeats have been by double digits, so to play one so close, and not get a win, it can magnify the frustration.

“I can’t believe it,” said guard Marko Maletic, who led the Leathernecks with 24 points. “We fought for 40 minutes. We battled, we gave energy, we rebounded, we played good defense. And we couldn’t win.”

Kyle Thomas’ putback dunk off a Ray’Sean Taylor missed shot with 35 seconds left, 11 seconds after Western Illinois’ Julius Rollins tied the game with his own tip-in, gave SIUE (15-8, 8-4) a 67-65 lead. Ryan Myers missed a shot inside with five seconds left that would have tied the game, then Ring Malith clinched the win with two free throws with 3.4 seconds left.

The Leathernecks had three one-point leads in the final 11 minutes of the game but couldn’t extend them. The biggest lead for either team in that stretch, besides the final margin, was a 61-57 lead for SIUE with 4:47 to play.

“We found a way (to lose),” Boudreau said. “But it’s like I told the guys in the locker room after the game, if we would have won we would have come in and point out all of the positives.

“For the first time, we were able to establish some post play.  I thought offensively, we had some flow and some connectedness that looks like something you could build off of. If you win, you could build off of it and give you a little momentum going into next week. But down the stretch, we just didn’t make plays. You want to get shots up, and we had three possessions that we didn’t get a shot up on the rim.”

The Leathernecks held a 42-38 rebounding edge and held SIUE to 33.3% shooting in the second half.

“I think everybody came and checked their egos at the door,” Maletic said. “I think everybody, you know, whatever was going on with them, with personnel, with the team, any animosity, we left at the door, and we said let’s just go out and play and see what can happen.

“I feel like the basketball gods should have given us this one.”

Trey Deveaux added 13 points for the Leathernecks. Massal Diouf and Julius Rollins each had 11.

Taylor led SIUE with 23 points. Thomas had 15 points and 11 rebounds.

The Leathernecks go on the road next week to play Tennessee State and UT-Martin.

“I think we have a lot of positivity,” Maletic said. “I think everybody in the locker room, we’ve still got belief, we’re still fighting. We’re still working hard. There’s still hope.”

Photo: Western Illinois guard Marko Maletic had 24 points in Saturday’s loss to SIUE. (Photo courtesy of WIU Athletic Communications)