The University of Southern Indiana men’s basketball team outscored the University of Missouri-St. Louis, 11-0, in overtime and posted an 84-73 victory Thursday evening at the Physical Activities Center. USI watched its record rise to12-3 overall and 3-0 in the GLVC, while UMSL goes to 7-6, 2-2 GLVC.
The Screaming Eagles took command midway through the opening half with a 17-6 run to lead by 13 points, 34-21, with 10:42 left before halftime. USI would hold a double-digit lead for the majority of the final 10 minutes in the opening half before going into the locker room with a 42-33 advantage.
USI junior guard/forward Nate Hansen (Evansville, Indiana) led the Eagles opening half attack with 15 points on five-of-nine from the field, including three-of-five from beyond the arc. Junior guard Alex Stein (Evansville, Indiana) followed with nine points on a perfect three-of-three from long range.
In the second half, UMSL used a 19-1 run to build a 56-49 lead with 8:44 to play in the game. The Tritons’ run was aided by a 10 minutes USI field goal drought that saw the Eagles go from the 17:25 mark to 7:23 without a made bucket.
Once the bucket opened back up for the Eagles, USI regained the lead, 57-56, with 6:34 remaining on the strength of an 8-0 run. The teams would race to the end of regulation tied at 73-73 after USI freshman forward Emmanuel Little (Indianapolis, Indiana) knotted the game up with a lay-up with 30 seconds remaining.
In the overtime, it was all Screaming Eagles. USI scored the final 13 points of the game (Little’s bucket at the end of regulation and 11 overtime points) to end the game with the 11-point, 84-73 victory. Stein scored seven of USI’s 11 points in the overtime, while senior forward DayJar Dickson (Washington, D.C.) added a bucket and Little and senior guard Marcellous Washington (Lexington, Kentucky) added free throws down the stretch.
Stein finished with his third-straight game with 20-or-more points, posting a game-high 23 points. He was seven-of-14 from the field, a blistering four-of-six from downtown, and five-of-five from the line to extended his consecutive free throw streak to 54 straight.
Hansen followed in the scoring column with 21 points, while Dickson rounded out the double-digit scorers with 15 points.
Dickson completed a monster game by grabbing a career-high 21 rebounds to complete his second double-double of the season. He had seven offensive and 14 defensive rebounds to lead the Eagles on the glass.
Little also grabbed double-digits rebounds with 12 board, two offensive and 10 defensive. The freshman forward has reached double-digits in rebounds four times this season and missed his fourth double-double of the season with nine points.
The Eagles hits the road to complete the GLVC weekend, traveling to Springfield, Missouri, to visit Drury University Saturday at 3 p.m. The Panther, who were idle tonight, enters Saturday’s match-up with an 8-2 overall mark and 2-1 in the GLVC.
USI is 11-9 all-time against Drury after defeating the Panthers, 77-51, last year at the PAC. Guard Jeril Taylor led the Eagles with 25 points, while Stein and Washington followed with 17 points and 11 points, respectively. The Eagles are 3-4 all-time on the road versus the Panthers.
