In a classic Great Lakes Valley Conference game, senior guard Bobo Drummond (Peoria, Illinois) and sophomore guard Alex Stein (Evansville, Indiana) combined for 30 second half points in leading the tenth-ranked University of Southern Indiana men’s basketball team to an 88-85 victory over 24th-ranked Quincy University Saturday afternoon in Quincy, Illinois. USI sees its record go to 16-0 overall and 6-0 in the conference, while Quincy goes to 15-3, 5-2 GLVC.
The victory allows USI to keep pace and tied for first in the GLVC East Division with the University of Wisconsin-Parkside and Lewis University at 6-0 in league play. USI hosts UW-Parkside Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and Lewis Saturday at 3:15 p.m. during the upcoming three-game homestand that begins Monday at 7:30 p.m. with ninth-ranked Bellarmine University.
The Screaming Eagles struggled in a first half that saw the Hawks build an eight-point lead by halftime, 40-32. Quincy and USI battled back and forth through the first 15 minutes with six ties and eight lead changes before the Hawks’ defense held the Eagles scoreless for the final 5:49 to have the advantage at halftime.
Senior guard Jeril Taylor led USI through the first 20 minutes, posting 10 points on four field goals and two three-pointers. He also reached double-digits in the first half for the eighth-straight game.
In the second half, the Hawks expanded the lead to 11 points before USI’s offense went to work. USI, trailing 49-39 with 15:44 left in the game, went on a 10-0 run to tie the game, 49-49, in less than two minutes. Quincy would regain command and built a pair of seven point leads, 62-55 and 64-57, when USI fired back to take its first lead of the half, 65-64, on an 8-0 run.
The final seven minutes would be struggle as the lead would change hands seven times and the game would be tied four times before Drummond gave USI the lead for good, 83-81, on a three-point field goal with 54 seconds left. USI would seal the 88-85 victory on a pair of free throws by Drummond and Stein and single charity shot by junior guard Marcellous Washington (Lexington, Kentucky).
USI outscored Quincy in the second half, 56-45, by shooting 56.3 percent from the field (18-32), 44.4 percent from beyond the arc (4-9); and 88.9 percent from the line.
Stein, who had a game-high 10 rebounds for his first career double-double, led all USI scorers with 18 points, 16 coming in the second half. Taylor followed with 15 points, while Drummond posted all 14 of his points in the final 16 minutes.
Senior guard Cortez Macklin (Louisville, Kentucky) and junior forward Julius Rajala (Finland) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 13 points and 12 points, respectively.
The Eagles resume action Monday with top-10 match-up when they host Bellarmine. The Knights finished this weekend’s conference action with a loss at Truman State University, 77-72, to fall to 13-3 overall and 5-1 in the GLVC.
USI leads the all-time series with Bellarmine, 50-38, with the teams splitting the last eight games. The Knights, however, won the last year’s series, taking two of three from the Eagles. Taylor led the Eagles against the Knights in last year with 19.0 points per game, followed by Drummond and Stein with 13.0 points per contest each.
