Eagles go cold in 2nd half, fall to Bison

LEWISBURG, Pa. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball went cold in the second half lost to Bucknell University, 67-56, in its second game of the Duke Blue Devil Challenge in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. The Screaming Eagles are 1-5 after tonight’s action, while the Bison are 2-4 to begin the season.

The Eagles had control of the contest early, using a 14-6 run to take a 13-point advantage, 25-12, with 10:13 left in the opening 20. Junior guard Jordan Tillmon (Pine Bluff, Arkansas) led the USI dash with six of the 14 points.

Bucknell would fight its way back in the final 10 minutes of the first half, closing to within seven at the intermission, 33-26.

The USI three-point shooters were hot in the opening half, hitting seven from long range. Junior forward Jack Mielke (Downers Grove, Illinois) led the hot shooter with four from beyond the arc, reaching a season-high 12 points by the halftime horn.
 
In the second half, Bucknell used an 11-3 run to jump out and front, 37-36, and built an eight-point lead, 46-38, with 10:22 left. USI would rally to knot the game at 48-48 with 6:31 left when sophomore forward Kiyron Powell (Evansville, Indiana) hit a jumper to cap off a 10-0 run.
 
USI’s offense stalled after run as Bucknell exploded on a 13-2 run over four minutes to post a double-digit lead of its own with 2:04 to play. The Eagles would try to rally one last time, cutting the gap to seven points, 61-54, but could get no closer in falling 67-56.
 
After shooting seven-of-15 from long range in the opening half, USI was one-of-13 from the beyond the arc in the second half. The Eagles also lost the battle of the boards in the game, 35-31.
 
Individually, Mielke led the Eagles with a career-high 14 points. He was five-of-10 from the field and four-of-eight from the three-point area. Tillmon followed with 13 points on five-of-12 from the field, including a pair of three-point field goals and a free throw.
 
Next Up For USI:
USI concludes its three-game, nine-day road swing Friday when it visits ninth-ranked Duke University at the Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. The Blue Devils are 3-1 to start the year and host La Salle University Tuesday before welcoming the Eagles to Cameron.
 
The USI-Duke contest will air live on the ACC Network and will be streamed on ESPN+. The game also will be streamed live on ESPN+ and air live on ESPN 97.7FM.
 
Fans can find all of the ways to follow USI Basketball action on the road by visiting USIScreamingEagles.com.