The University of Southern Indiana men’s basketball team went cold in the second half and lost to Drury University, 71-61, Saturday afternoon in Springfield, MO. USI saw its record fall to12-4 overall and 3-1 in the GLVC, while Drury goes to 9-2, 3-1 GLVC.
The Screaming Eagles and the Panthers traded control of the game throughout the opening half that featured 15 lead changes and four ties. USI’s largest leads of the half was three points, 11-8 at 13:29 and 34-31 at 1:09.
Offensively, the Eagles had seven different players score in the opening half, junior guard Alex Stein (Evansville, Indiana) leading way with nine points. Senior forward Julius Rajala (Helsinki, Finland) followed with eight points.
In the second half, USI and Drury continued to trade buckets until the Eagles seemed to take control with an 8-2 run to lead by three, 42-39, with 16:33 remaining. The Panthers, however, responded with a 12-0 run and took command with a 13-point lead, 66-53, with 2:09 to play. Drury would cruise the rest of the way to its 71-61 win as USI could get no closer than nine points in the final 76 seconds.
Individually for the Eagles, Stein led three players in double-digits with 16 points. Rajala followed with 12 points, while junior guard/forward Nate Hansen (Evansville, Indiana) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points.
Rajala led USI on the glass with a career-high 12 rebounds for this second double-double of 2017-18. Senior forward DayJar Dickson (Washington, D.C.) also reached double-figures on the glass for the fourth time this season with 11 boards.
The Eagles return to the friendly surroundings of the Physical Activities Center Thursday when they host the University of Indianapolis for a 7:30 p.m. match-up. UIndy moved to 9-4 overall and 3-2 in the GLVC after a 76-69 victory at Rockhurst University this afternoon.
USI is leads the all-time series with UIndy, 55-22 overall, 51-21 in conference play. The Eagles also has a 35-8 all-time home mark against the Greyhounds, 34-8 in league action. USI took the first meeting this year in Indianapolis, 73-67, behind the 24-point performance of Rajala.
