ST. LOUIS, Mo. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball used late runs to win a hard-fought battle with Maryville University, 80-75, to restart 2018-19 Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule Thursday evening in St. Louis, Missouri. The Screaming Eagles go to 9-3 overall and 1-1 in the GLVC, while the Saints are 5-7, 0-3 GLVC.

The opening half featured a series of runs by the Eagles and the Saints as USI went into the locker room with a 35-30 lead. USI led by as many as five points five times during the first half and was led by junior guard/forward Kobe Caldwell (Bowling Green, Kentucky), who had a team-best 15 first-half points and six rebounds.

Caldwell combined with sophomore forward Emmanuel Little (Indianapolis, Indiana) for an 8-0 run to put the Eagles in front during the final two minutes before halftime, 30-26. Little followed Caldwell in the scoring column with nine points during the first 20 minutes.

USI and Maryville continued to attack and counter-attack during the second half as the teams traded the lead nine times and saw the scored tied seven times. After the Saints built a four-point advantage, 59-55, with 6:53 left in the game, USI rallied with a 10-1 run to take a 65-60 advantage and the lead for good with 5:14 to play.

The Eagles took command for the final three minutes with an 11-6 run that was ignited by a sophomore forward Josh Price (Indianapolis, Indiana), who had five of the 11 points during the run. The surge enabled USI to reach its largest leads of the game, seven points, twice (76-69 and 77-70).

Maryville made a late run at USI, cutting the margin to three points, 78-75, before the Eagles closed out the 80-75 win on a pair of free throws by senior guard Alex Stein (Evansville, Indiana) with three seconds left.

The Eagles finished the game by hitting 47.4 percent from the field (27-57), 44.4 percent from downtown (8-18), and 72.0 percent from the line (18-25). USI also won the battle on the glass, 37-27. The game also featured a total of 16 lead changes and 12 ties.

Individually, Caldwell led USI with 22 points on eight-of-16 from the field, three-of-four from beyond the arc, and three-of-three from the line. He also tied a season-high with eight rebounds.

Stein followed Caldwell in the scoring column with 15 points, all of them in the second half. Price and Little rounded out the double-digit scorers with 13 points and 12 points, respectively.

USI sophomore guard Mateo Rivera (Indianapolis, Indiana) narrowly missed a triple-double in the game, finishing with nine points, nine rebounds, and a career-high 11 assists.

The Eagles conclude their two-game GLVC road swing Saturday when they visit the University of Missouri-St. Louis for a 3 p.m. contest. UMSL saw its record go to 10-3 overall, 1-2 GLVC, after losing to top-ranked Bellarmine University, 66-53, at home this evening.

USI leads the all-time series 37-11 versus UMSL, 31-2 in GLVC action. The Eagles, who are 15-7 versus the Triton all-time on the road, won their 15th-straight over UMSL in the only meeting in overtime last year, 84-73. Stein led USI with 23 points, while senior guard Nate Hansen (Evansville, Indiana) followed with 21 points in the victory. Forward DayJar Dickson also had a double-double with 15 points and 21 rebounds.

Game coverage information for USI Men’s Basketball can be found on GoUSIEagles.com.