EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball struggled offensively and fell to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 74-56, Thursday evening at Liberty Arena. The Screaming Eagles are 9-14 overall and 4-9 in OVC action, while the Trojans go to 15-9, 9-4 OVC.
After a defensive battle through the first seven minutes, Little Rock jumped out to a 16-5 with an 8-0 run. USI’s offense struggled during Little Rock’s run, going scoreless for over six minutes.
The Eagles was able to ignite the offense briefly to close the gap to 18-13 by converting three-straight trips down the floor. Junior guard Damoni Harrison started the run with a jumper at 8:10 and was followed by a pair of three-point bombs by junior guard Jayland Randall and graduate forward Jack Mielke with 7:34 and 6:55 on the clock.
Little Rock responded with an 16-3 run to retake control, 34-16, with 2:26 left in the first half. The clock would run out on the first half with the Eagles trailing, 37-24. USI struggled in the opening 20 minutes, hitting eight-of-26 from the field.
In the second half, USI started to battle back in the first 10 minutes, cutting the deficit to 10 points, 53-43, during an 8-3 run with 11:17 to play. Little Rock, however, stopped the USI momentum and methodically extended the lead through the final 10 minutes to the eventual 18-point decision, 74-56.
USI had three players in double digits for the game, led by the 15-point performance of sophomore forward Stephen Olowoniyi. Olowoniyi was the only Eagle with a hot hand, hitting five-of-six from the field and five-of-six from the stripe.
Randall followed with 14 points, while Harrison rounded out the double-figure scorers with 13 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
Next Up For USI:
USI concludes a three-game homestand Saturday when USI hosts Southeast Missouri State University for the Homecoming game. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
The SEMO Redhawks are 14-10 overall and 9-4 in the OVC after defeating Morehead State University, 80-51, on the road this evening. SEMO has four straight and five of the last six games after tonight’s action.
SEMO leads the all-time series with USI, 7-3, after posting a 77-66 win in Cape Girardeau last month. USI junior guard Sam Kodi led four Eagles in double-digits with 15 points. Junior guard Braxton Jones followed with 13 points, while Olowoniyi and Harrison had 12 points and 11 points, respectively.
Tickets for the homestand and all USI home dates are on sale now at USIScreamingEagles.com.
