 University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball senior forward Josh Price converted an old-fashion three-point play with three seconds left to propel the Screaming Eagles to a 91-90 victory over Drury University Saturday afternoon at Screaming Eagles Arena. USI, which has won seven-straight, sees its record to go 11-3 this season, while Drury University ends the afternoon 9-9.
USI and Drury raced up and down the court in the first half, ending with the Panthers with a four-point advantage, 47-43. The Screaming Eagles had manufactured a nine point margin, 38-29, with 5:13 left before halftime when senior guard Mateo Rivera scored in the lane.
The Panthers, however, would go on an 18-5 run in the final minutes of the opening stanza to grab the lead at the intermission. USI junior guard Tyler Henry paced the Eagles in the opening 20 minutes with 14 points on five-of-nine from the field, three-of-three from beyond the arc and a free throw.
In the second half, the Eagles trailed by six points (64-58) when they surged with a 13-5 run to take the lead, 71-69, with 7:34 remaining on a jumper in the paint by Rivera.
USI and Drury continued to trade buckets until the Panthers regained the lead once more with 4:24 remaining, 79-77. Junior forward Jelani Simmons tied the game, 79-79, before sophomore guard Chance Coyle drained a three-pointer to put the Eagles back in the lead, 82-79.
Drury got the lead back with 42 seconds remaining, 90-88, and set the stage for Price in the final seconds. Price scored on a lay-in and was fouled with three second left to tie the game, 90-90, and gave the Eagles the lead with a clutch free throw, 91-90.
USI’s defense did not give Drury another shot in the final three ticks as the Eagles raced off the court with the victory.
For the game, Rivera led four Eagles in double-digits with a 21 career-high points. The senior guard was eight-of-16 from the field and five-of-five from the stripe, while posting his first double-double of the year with a game-high 11 rebounds.
Simmons followed with 20 points on eight-of-15 from the field and four-of-eight from long range. Henry added a three-pointer in the second half and finished with 17 points (one short of a season high), while Price rounded out the double-digit scorers with 16 points.
USI, which increased its lead in the GLVC East to 5.0 games (pending the conclusion of today’s action), concludes its three-game homestand Monday when it hosts #5 (D2SIDA)/#6 (NABC) Truman State University for a special 3 p.m. contest. The Bulldogs start today 13-1 and are visiting Quincy University.
Despite a 76-69 loss to Truman in January, USI holds a 7-3 overall advantage in the all-time series, 6-2 in GLVC action. The Eagles, who let a 12-point first half lead slip away in the second half, were led by Rivera, who had 17 points, and Price, who followed with 15 points.
