The University of Southern Indiana men’s basketball team lost a 77-70 battle with Hillsdale College in the G-MAC/GLVC Crossover Friday evening in Canton, Ohio. USI watched its record to 1-2 overall in 2017-18, while Hillsdale starts the year, 1-0.
In the first half, the Chargers owned the first 10 minutes of the contest and took command with a 13-3 run to lead 22-12 at the 10:09 mark. Hillsdale extended the margin to as many as 11 points, 25-14, when the USI offense kicked into gear.
The Screaming Eagles would rally with a 13-1 run of their own to get the lead back, 27-26, with 2:55 remaining in the half. USI and Hillsdale would trade buckets and leads the rest of the way in the half with the Chargers having the advantage at halftime, 31-29.
The second half started much the same way as the first half with the Eagles and the Chargers trading bucket for the first three minutes after the break. Hillsdale broke a 35-35 tie and led USI the rest of the game. The Eagles trailed by as many as 13 points twice, but were never able to get to within seven points twice in the final five minutes.
As a team, USI shot 46.4 percent from the field (26-56), 42.9 percent from beyond the arc (6-14), and 75 percent from the line (12-16). The Eagles did win the rebounding battle, 38-32.
USI junior guard Alex Stein (Evansville, Indiana) led the team in scoring with 18 points, while senior guard Marcellous Washington (Lexington, Kentucky) followed with 17 points. Senior forward DayJar Dickson(Washington, D.C.) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points.
The Eagles conclude the G-MAC/GLVC Crossover against the host, Malone University, Saturday at 6 p.m. (CST). Malone started its 2017-18 campaign in the second game of the crossover, facing off with the GLVC’s University of Illinois Springfield.
The USI-Malone will be the second match-up between the two programs in men’s basketball. The Eagles won the first meeting, 83-47, in the 2011 Bill Joergens Memorial Classic at the Physical Activities Center.
The next home game for USI is November 14 when it hosts Brescia University at the PAC.
