Game Recap: Men’s Basketball | 3/29/2019 12:06:00 AM | Ray Simmons, USI Athletic Communications

EVANSVILLE, Ind. –University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball saw its season end with an 81-71 loss in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II Elite Eight to Point Loma Nazarene University Thursday evening at the Ford Center. The Screaming Eagles, the seventh seed, ends the season with a 26-9 record, while the Sea Lions, the sixth seed, advanced to the NCAA II national championship game with a 31-4 mark.

The Eagles spotted the Sea Lions a 10-0 lead to start and fell behind by as many as 14 points, 28-14, with 6:36 left in the opening half, USI started slow, missing its first seven shots and hitting only four-of-15 from the field for the first 14 minutes.

The first half turned around for the Eagles offensively in the final six minutes before halftime when they went on a 16-3 run and cut the deficit to one point, 31-30. USI was a blistering six-of-nine from the field during the rally and was led by sophomore forward Emmanuel Little (Indianapolis, Indiana), who scored all of his nine first-half points during the run.

Little was followed in the first half by sophomore guard Mateo Rivera (Indianapolis, Indiana), who had the first five points of the game for USI and finished the half with seven.

In the second half, Point Loma extended its advantage to five points and beyond, including a 10-point 55-45 margin. The Eagles rallied once again, pulling to within four points, 61-57, on a jumper by senior guard Alex Stein(Evansville, Indiana) with 7:19 to play.

The Sea Lions, however, re-extended the lead, this time to 11-points, 68-57, with six to play when the Eagles made one last comeback attempt. USI surged with a 10-3 run and got back to a four-point deficit, 71-67, with 1:32 left, but that would be as close as it would come to the rest of the way. Point Loma converted eight-of-10 from the stripe in the last minutes to preserve the 81-71 victory.
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Stein led four Eagles in double-digits with 22 points and became USI’s all-time leading scorer with 2,219 career points. The All-American senior scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half on five-of-six from the field, one-of-two from beyond the arc, and seven-of-nine from the stripe.

Little and junior guard/forward Kobe Caldwell (Bowling Green, Kentucky) followed Stein with 16 points each, while Rivera reached double-digits with 10 points.

Written By Gail Riecken-City-County Observer Statehouse Editor

We all love a good story. When it comes in the presentation of a bill in the legislature, it can be very effective. I saw this happen with Senate Bill 608. The presenter was Senator Jim Buck (R-District 21).

SB 608 at first glance is not an exciting bill. It is about one local governmental unit being able to get a better look at all the debt obligations of another local unit because they impact the same taxpayers.

Granted there is more to this bill and legislators might think the bill overburdens local Electeds, but Senator Buck had committee members  (and me watching the committee video)on his side from the start.

The Senator began with a story, just to give members a little “history”, he said.  He had watched experts on TV talk about our future economy, the extremes of where our economy might be – the very best to the very worst. And it was these two extremes, he sighed, that caused him great concern.

“What could be the worst scenario?”, he questioned. Then he answered.

“Thinking about the different obligations [of government units], we may or may not know what exists in our units of government,  municipalities, our counties and townships, and so on.”

“So”, he went on,  “The effort in this bill is to allow locals, each other, know what kind of ‘red flag’ may be out that would affect their own debt or obligations they have committed the taxpayers.”

He said that his bill was certainly not intended to restrict or prohibit a local unit from incurring debt but rather let taxpayers and units of government know what debt obligation they have before making a decision to add more.

Such common sense. Such concern for taxpayers!

What legislator would argue against his position? Even knowing the bill might cause more paperwork for locals, what legislator wants to appear to be on the side of hiding information from the public.

This bill really takes local accountability to a new standard.

And, if this bill is successful, it will be because Senator Buck simply and skillfully told a story about a solution to, as he would have it, save a local government from potential financial crisis.

His closing argument? If money gets tight to pay debts a unit didn’t plan in the budget, safety is usually cut first. And, after all, none of us wants to see that happen.  Well, I’m sold. How about you?

Senator Buck’s efforts secured unanimous support and the bill is now in the House.

If you believe in transparency to avoid pitfalls where taxpayers have to pay the unexpected debt, let the chair of Government and Regulatory Reform Committee,  Rep. Kevin Mahan, know your support for SB 608 and ask the bill be put on the agenda. Here is his contact info:
https://www.indianahouserepublicans.com/forms/contact-your-representative/?formField_Representative=Rep.%20Kevin%20Mahan%20%28HD%2031%29