University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball put Quincy University on ice with an 86-71 victory Wednesday evening at Screaming Eagles Arena. USI, which has won six-straight, sees its record to go 10-3 this season, while Quincy ends the evening 5-12.
USI exploded for a 9-0 run to start the contest and never looked back. Junior guard Jelani Simmons had four of those first nine points as the Screaming Eagles were a perfect three-of-three from the field, two-of-two from long range.
The Eagles pushed their first half lead to as many as 17 points during the opening frame when senior forward Josh Price, who had a team-high nine in the first 20 minutes, hit a three-point bomb with 12:43 to halftime. Quincy rallied to close the gap to eight points with 2:20 on the clock before halftime, 30-22.
USI freshman guard Elijah Jones capped off an Eagles’ spurt to put the lead back to 13 points, 35-22, prior to Quincy getting the final bucket of the half for a 35-24 intermission score.
The Eagles continued to cruise in the second half, extending their lead back to as many as 16 points and outscoring the Hawks, 51-47, in the final 20 minutes to ice the 86-71 victory. Price (11 points), Simmons (14 points), and senior guard Mateo Rivera (13 points) combined for 38 of USI’s 51 second half points to lead the way.
For the game in the scoring column, Price led the four players in double-digits with 20 points. He was nine-of-15 overall, one-of-two from behind the arc and one-of-two from line. He also tied for the team lead with seven rebounds.
Simmons and Rivera followed with 18 points each in the win. Simmons, who had 14 second half points, was seven-of-14 from the field, two-of-five from long range, and two-of-three from the line, while Rivera, who had 13 second half tallies, finished the game six-of-12 from the field, three-of-seven from three-point land, and three-of-three from the line.
Senior guard/forward Clayton Hughes rounded out the double-digit scorers with a season-high tying 14 points. The senior also tied a career-best with four steals.
USI, which increased its lead in the GLVC East to 4.5 games, continues its three-game homestand Saturday when it hosts Drury University for a special 1 p.m. contest. The USI Women’s Basketball game with Drury will follow on Saturday at 3:15 p.m.
Drury, which visits McKendree University Thursday night before visiting Screaming Eagles Arena, has already started the week with an 82-64 victory over Rockhurst University Tuesday evening. The Panthers enter Thursday’s contest at McKendree on a three-game winning streak and an 8-8 record.
The all-time series has USI and Drury tied, 12-12 overall and 9-9 in conference action. The Eagles knotted the series up last year with an 86-82 victory at Screaming Eagles Arena. Price had the big game for USI in last year’s win, posting 24 points and 10 rebounds.
