University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball held off McKendree University, 100-65, Thursday evening at the Physical Activities Center. The Screaming Eagles rise to 17-6 overall and 9-4 in the GLVC, while the Bearcats go to 9-14, 5-9 GLVC.
The Eagles hit for the first five points of the game and battled to a 42-34 halftime advantage. USI extended its advantage to a first-half best 12 points, 36-24, with 4:26 left in the opening half after senior guard/forward Nate Hansen(Evansville, Indiana) capped off a 16-6 run with a lay-up.
USI was a blistering six-of-eight during the run that had Hansen (5) and senior guard Alex Stein(Evansville, Indiana) (7) combined for 12 of the 16 points.
At the intermission, Stein and sophomore forward Emmanuel Little (Indianapolis, Indiana) had 10 points each to led the way. Little was five-of-eight form the field, while Stein was four-of-seven with a pair of free throws during the first 20 minutes.
In the second half, USI continued to add to its halftime margin by outscoring McKendree, 38-29, in building its largest lead of the game, 80-63, with 6:04 left. The Eagles were blistering from the field while building the 17-point lead, hitting 15-of-23 shot overall and four-of-seven from long range.
The Bearcats, however, were not done and made a run at the Eagles in the final minutes. McKendree used a 28-14 surge to get back to within three points, 94-91 with 56 second remaining on the clock. The Eagles responded with junior guard/forward Kobe Caldwell (Bowling Green, Kentucky), Stein, and Little combining for six-straight free throws in the final seconds to close out the 100-95 victory.
The 100-point game was the second of the year for the Eagles (USI scored 110 points versus Lake Superior State University in November). USI also shot 57.4 percent for the game (35-61) and won the battle on the boards, 35-28.
Individually, Stein led five Eagles in double-digits with 26 points. The 26 points pulls the senior guard to within 41 points of becoming the third USI player to reach 2,000 in his career.
Caldwell followed in the scoring column with 21 points, marking his fifth game over 20 points this season. Sophomore guard Mateo Rivera (Indianapolis, Indiana) was third on the team tonight with a season-high 15 points, while Little dropped in 14 points. Hansen rounded out the double-digit scorers with 13 points in the victory.
USI reaches the halfway point of the four-game homestand Saturday at 3:15 p.m. when it hosts the University of Illinois Springfield for Homecoming. Illinois Springfield is 13-11 overall and 6-8 in the GLVC after falling 73-65 at Bellarmine University tonight in Louisville, Kentucky.
USI has the series advantage versus Illinois Springfield, 10-4 overall and 7-3 in the GLVC, since the beginning of the match-ups in 2002-03 and the Prairie Stars entrance into the GLVC in 2009-10. The Eagles, who hold a 7-1 advantage in the series at the PAC, lost to the Stars last year in Springfield, Illinois, 79-70, despite the double-double, 23 points and 10 rebounds, by Little.
