 University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball finished off the 2018-19 regular season with an impressive 102-60 victory over McKendree University Saturday afternoon in Lebanon, Illinois. The Screaming Eagles rise to 21-7 overall and 13-5 in the GLVC, while the Bearcats go to 9-18, 5-13 GLVC.
The 102 marked the third time this season that the Eagles have reached the century mark.
USI senior guard/forward Nate Hansen(Evansville, Indiana) ignited the Eagles during the first half by dropping in four-of-four from downtown and finished the half with a team-high 14 points. Hansen scored all 14 of his points during USI’s 34-16 run during the final 13 minutes of the opening half as the Eagles took a commanding 51-33 lead into the intermission.
As a team, USI dominated the boards during the first half, 24-8, and shot 57.1 percent from the field (20-35) and 60 percent from beyond the arc (9-15).
USI sophomore forward Emmanuel Little (Indianapolis, Indiana) hit the first bucket of the second half to push the Eagles’ margin to 20 points, 53-33, and would be the smallest margin for the remainder of the second half. The Eagles continued to expand the margin to as many as 42 points twice, including the final score of 102-60.
USI sustained its hot shooting in the second half, hitting 51.5 percent from the field (17-33) and 46.7 percent from long range (7-15). For the contest, the Eagles finished with 54.4 percent from the field (37-68) and 53.3 percent from beyond the arc (16-30), while dominating the boards overall, 47-21.
Individually, Hansen added seven second half points and led five Eagles in double-digits with a season-high 21 points. The senior guard was a blistering seven-of-10 from the field, five-of-seven from outside the arc, and two-of-two from the stripe.
Little followed Hansen with 14 points and recorded his ninth double-double of the year by grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds. Junior guard/forward Kobe Caldwell (Bowling Green, Kentucky) and senior guard Alex Stein (Evansville, Indiana) posted 13 points each, while sophomore forward Josh Price(Indianapolis, Indiana) rounded out the double-figure scorers with 12 points.
With the conclusion of the 2018-19 regular season, the Eagles advance to the GLVC Tournament at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Vadalabene Center in Edwardsville, Illinois. USI, the third seed in the tournament, will play the University of Missouri-St. Louis, the sixth seed, in the 8:30 p.m. game Thursday.
