University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball built a 20-point second half lead and had to hold on late to defeat the University of Illinois Springfield, 64-52, Thursday evening in Springfield, Illinois. USI goes to 3-2, while Illinois Springfield falls to 2-5.
The Screaming Eagles spotted the Prairie Stars a 5-0 lead before senior guard Mateo Rivera (Indianapolis, Indiana) hit a jumper to ignite a 26-4 run that was capped off by an alley-oop dunk by freshman guard Elijah Jones (Chicago Heights, Illinois). USI was a blistering 12-of-17 as a team from the field during the run and was led by Rivera and junior guard Jelani Simmons (Columbus, Ohio) had seven points each during the run.
The Stars would out score the Eagles, 6-4, in the final minutes of the half, but USI left the court at the break with a 15-point lead, 30-15.
USI would continue to the rally into the second half extending the lead to 20 points, 56-36, with nine minutes to play in the contest. The Stars, however, were not done as they would outscore USI, 16-4, in the next seven minutes and cut the Eagles’ advantage to 60-52 with 2:10 remaining.
The Eagles’ defense would shutout the Stars over the next two minutes, while the offense would finish the game at the free throw stripe. Junior forward Jacob Polakovich (Grand Rapids, Michigan), senior guard/forward Clayton Hughes (Jackson, Tennessee), and Rivera combined to convert four-of-six free throws to shut the door on the 64-52 victory.
Polakovich led the way for the Eagles, doubling up the Stars with career and season-highs. He posted a collegiate career-best and USI career-high 28 points (topping the 17 point performance for the University of Indianapolis versus Truman State University in 2019-20) and grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds for his first USI double-double. The junior forward recorded his 28 points by dropping in nine-of-16 from the field and 10-of-14 from the line.
Rivera joined Polakovich in double-digits with 11 points, hitting a blistering four-of-five from the field, including a pair of three-pointers, and one-of-two from the stripe.
COMING UP FOR USI:
