University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball opened Great Lakes Valley Conference action with an explosion, defeating McKendree University, 104-58, Thursday night in Lebanon, Illinois. USI sees its record go to 5-0 overall and 1-0 in the GLVC, while McKendree goes to 2-3, 0-1 GLVC.
The Screaming Eagles have won five-straight to start a campaign for the 20th time in the history of the program.
USI busted the game open in the first three minutes, flying out to a 15-0 lead by the 17:17 mark. The Eagles, who shot over 70 percent from the field for most of the opening half, had its largest lead of the first half, 29 points, when the buzzer sounded for the intermission and went into the locker room with a 54-25 lead.
Eagles sophomore guard Alex Stein (Evansville, Indiana) paced the Eagles with 10 points in the first half. Stein was followed by eight-point halves by junior forward Julius Rajala (Finland) and senior guard Bobo Drummond (Peoria, Illinois). Drummond was making his first appearance in game action since going down with an injury in the season opener against Lake Erie College.
In the second half,  USI and junior guard Marcellous Washington (Lexington, Kentucky) kept their foot on the accelerator and extend the Eagles’ advantage to as many as 48 points twice during the final 20 minutes. Washington exploded offensively in the second half, scoring 18 of his team-high 20 points in the final 20 minutes.
The junior guard came off the bench to shoot a blistering eight-of-nine from the field and four-of-four from long range to lead USI.
Five Eagles joined Washington in double-digit scoring. Stein followed with 13 points, while Drummond and senior guard Cortez Macklin (Louisville, Kentucky) tied for third with 11 points each. Senior guard Jeril Taylor (Louisville, Kentucky) and Rajala rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points each.
As a team, the Eagles shot 53.3 percent from the field in the game (40-75), 66.7 percent from beyond the three-point arc (18-27), and 60 percent from the charity stripe (6-10). USI also won the battle of the boards, 51-29, and outscored McKendree, 57-31, off the bench.
The Eagles conclude the GLVC’s opening weekend and their six-game marathon away from the Physical Activities Center Saturday at 3 p.m. when they visit the University of Illinois Springfield in Springfield, Illinois. The Prairie Stars saw their record to 3-3 overall and 0-1 in the GLVC after losing a close game with Bellarmine University, 67-63, at home tonight.
USI leads the all-time series with Illinois Springfield, 8-3, and has won three of four since the Stars joined the GLVC in 2013-14. The Eagles and the Stars split last year’s conference series with USI winning at the PAC, 85-64, and Illinois Springfield posting a home win, 86-81.
