The University of Southern Indiana men’s basketball team cruised to a 90-72 victory over Martin Methodist College in the 2018-19 home opener at the Physical Activities Center. The Screaming Eagles, who have won 35-straight home openers at the PAC, go to 2-1 to begin 2018-19, while Martin Methodist goes 2-3.
USI trailed only once, 3-2 during the opening minutes of the first half, before racing to out to a 16-point halftime advantage, 48-32. USI junior guard Kobe Caldwell(Bowling Green, Kentucky) paced the Eagles with 19 points during the first 20 minutes, hitting five-of-nine from the field, including three from downtown. He also was six-of-seven from the line.
The Eagles continued their run from the end of the first half, extending it to 10-0, and ran the lead to 22 points before two minutes were gone in the second half. USI methodically extended the lead to as many as 30 points, 77-47, with 8:49 remaining in the game when sophomore forward Emmanuel Little(Indianapolis, Indiana) hit the front end of a two-shot foul.
The RedHawks came to life and cut the Eagles margin to 17 points, 87-70, with a 21-10 run in the final nine minutes before USI closed out the 18-point, 90-72, victory.
As a team, USI shot 50.0 percent from the field (34-68) from the field and won the battle on the glass, 41-37.
Caldwell finished with a game-high 24 points in his debut at the PAC and led five Eagles in double-digits. The junior guard/forward was seven-of-11 for the game, a blistering four-of-six from long range, and six-of-seven from the stripe.
USI senior guard Alex Stein (Evansville, Indiana) and Little followed with 16 points and 14 points, respectively, while senior guard/forward Nate Hansen (Evansville, Indiana) and sophomore forward Josh Price (Indianapolis, Indiana) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points each. Senior forward Jacob Norman (Evansville, Indiana) led the Eagles on the glass with 11 rebounds, tying a career high.
The Eagles are idle until after Thanksgiving when travel to Indianapolis, Indiana, for a neutral site contest versus Lake Superior State University November 23 at noon (CST).  Game coverage can be found on GoUSIEagles.com.
