 University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball could not get on track offensively in the second half and lost to the University of Missouri-St. Louis, 73-61, Saturday afternoon in St. Louis, Missouri. The Screaming Eagles go to 9-4 overall and 1-2 in the GLVC, while the Tritons are 11-3, 2-2 GLVC.
The Eagles started slow as the Tritons jumped out to a 20-9 lead in the first nine minutes of the opening half. USI rebounded with a 15-2 run to take a brief 24-22 lead on a pair of free throws by senior guard Alex Stein (Evansville, Indiana) with 4:53 left before the intermission. Stein and sophomore forward Josh Price (Indianapolis, Indiana) led the Eagles during the run with four points each.
USI and UMSL would trade leads through the final minutes of the first half with the Tritons taking a five-point lead, 36-31, into the intermission on a 5-0 run. Stein was the only Eagle to get into double-digits by halftime with 11 points.
The Tritons took command at the 15:33 mark of the second half when they exploded on a 12-2 run to lead by 12 points, 53-41. USI rallied to get within six points down the stretch, 60-54, with 4:29 left, but that would be as close as the Eagles would come the rest of the way in the 73-61 loss.
USI was stymied from the field today by UMSL, shooting 34.8 percent for the game (19-55), 30.8 percent (8-26) in the second half. The Eagles, however, did the job on the glass, outrebounding the Triton, 37-35.
Individually, Stein led five players in double-figures with 17 points. Junior guard/forward Kobe Caldwell(Bowling Green, Kentucky) and sophomore guard Mateo Rivera (Indianapolis, Indiana) followed with 11 points each, while Price and sophomore forward Emmanuel Little (Indianapolis, Indiana) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points each.
The Eagles return to the friendly surroundings of the Physical Activities Center next week to start a two-game GLVC homestand. USI is slated to play Truman State University Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and Quincy University Saturday at 3:15 p.m. Game coverage information for USI Men’s Basketball can be found on GoUSIEagles.com.
