The 15th-ranked University of Southern Indiana men’s basketball team held off a second half run by Maryville University to post an 82-66 victory Saturday afternoon in St. Louis, Missouri. USI sees its record go to 23-2 overall and 13-2 in the GLVC, while Maryville goes to 8-19 overall, 2-13 GLVC.
The win also increases USI’s hold on second in the GLVC East Division, leading third-place University of Wisconsin-Parkside and Lewis University by two games after both teams lost today. The Screaming Eagles also remain one game back of division front-running and eighth-ranked Bellarmine University.
Entering next week’s action, a USI win and losses by UW-Parkside or Lewis University would clinch a first round bye for the Eagles in the upcoming GLVC Tournament.
The Screaming Eagles flew out to a 7-0 lead and never looked back in the opening half. USI’s lead would expand to 14 points twice in the opening 20 minutes. The first 14-point advantage came when senior guard Bobo Drummond (Peoria, Illinois) hit a three-point bomb at 9:54 to make the score, 25-11, while the second came when sophomore guard Alex Stein (Evansville, Indiana) dropped in one from downtown at 8:03 to make the score 33-19.
Drummond and Stein would end the half with team-best 12 points each as the Eagles led at the intermission, 46-35.
In the second half, the Eagles raced out to a trio of 14-point leads before the Saints rallied with a 16-5 run to close the gap to 63-60 with 7:07 to play. USI went cold during the Maryville run, going 4:30 without a basket before junior forward DayJar Dickson (Washington, D.C.) scored to put an end to the drought.
The Eagles regained their shooting touch with Stein and junior guard Marcellous Washington (Lexington, Kentucky) hitting clutch back-to-back three-point buckets in the final three minutes to ignite a 17-5 run to close out USI’s 82-66 victory. The 16-point margin was the largest advantage of the game for USI.
As a team, USI won the battle of the boards, 47-34, and overcame a tough afternoon at the free throw line. After neither team shot a free throw in the first half, the Eagles were one-of-seven to start the second half before hitting 13-of-15 down the stretch to seal the 23rd win of the year.
Individually, Stein led four Eagles in double-digits with a game-high 21 points. Drummond followed with 15 points, while Dickson and Washington rounded out the double-figure scorers with 12 points and 10 points, respectively. Dickson also grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds to record his first double-double of the year.
The Eagles return to the Physical Activities Center for their final regular season home games of 2016-17. The final home games are Thursday at 7:30 p.m. versus the University of Illinois Springfield and February 18 versus McKendree University at 3:15 p.m. The USI-McKendree match-up will be Senior Day for the Eagles.
