COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball dominated the last seven minutes, 23-6, and defeated Tennessee Tech, 71-54, Thursday evening at Eblen Center in Cookeville, Tennessee. The Screaming Eagles, which snapped an eight-game losing streak, go to 4-13 overall and 1-6 in the OVC, while the Golden Eagles are 7-11, 2-5 OVC.
USI started slow on the offensive end, hitting only seven-of-26 (26.9 percent) during the first 17 minutes of the contest and found themselves in a 27-19 hole. The Screaming Eagles rallied in the final three minutes of the first 20 minutes to knot the game at 27-27 in the intermission.
USI junior guard/forward Amaree Brown and junior forward Devin Curtis led the run with three points each, while senior guard Ismail Habib dropped in the tying two points to complete the run. Senior guard/forward Steven Clay led the Screaming Eagles in the opening frame with six of the 27 points.
The second half started in USI’s favor as the Screaming Eagles continued their run to 15-0 and a 34-27 lead after Habib capped off the run with a pair of free throws and a pair of buckets during the surge. The seven-point lead was the largest of the game for USI at that point of the contest.
After the Golden Eagles put together a 7-0 run of their own to knot the score at 34-34, they extended the run to 11-0 and regained the advantage, 38-34, with 13:27 left. The TTU run was aided by a USI scoring drought of four minutes.
USI ended the drought with 12:55 to play and tied the score, 48-48, with 7:31 to play on a layup by Habib. The Screaming Eagles would go on to dominate the final seven minutes to get their first conference win of the year.
Over the final seven minutes, USI outscored TTU, 23-6, on a blistering 10-of-12 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers and free throws. Senior guard Cardell Bailey led the offensive explosion with 11 points, while Habib followed with 10 more.
The Screaming Eagles also did the job on the defensive end, holding the Golden Eagles to two-of-10 from the field in the final 7:20 of the game.
Individually in the USI scoring column, Habib led the Screaming Eagles with 21 points, 19 coming in the second half. He was eight-of-20 from the field, including two three-pointers, and three-of-four from the stripe.
Bailey joined Habib in the scoring column with 17 points, 14 in the second half and 11 points in the final seven.
Next Up For USI:
USI finishes the road trip Saturday by visiting Tennessee State Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
TSU posted a 105-100 overtime win over Morehead State Thursday night to go to 11-6 overall and 5-2 in the OVC. The Tigers have won four of their last five games.
USI leads the all-time series with TSU, 6-5, after splitting last year. The Screaming Eagles took the opening game, 77-75, at Liberty Arena, but lost on the road in Nashville, 74-69.
