Senior forward Hannah Wascher (Rantoul, Illinois) and junior guard/forward Kaydie Grooms (Marshall, Illinois) combined for 57 points to help University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball power past the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, 88-71, Saturday afternoon in the Screaming Eagles’ final game of the Puerto Rico Classic.

Wascher had a USI career-high 29 points to go along with 11 rebounds to finish with her second straight double-double. She had 17 points and 10 rebounds Friday night against the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras before going 11-of-16 from the field and 7-of-10 from the charity stripe Saturday.

Grooms racked up a career-high 28 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including a career-best 6-of-7 effort from three-point range.

USI (10-1) jumped out to an early 10-2 lead and led 24-16 at the end of the first period as Grooms drained a pair of three pointers to get the Eagles out in front. Her second three-pointer ended the quarter and put an end to an 8-0 UPR-Mayaguez run.

Wascher and Grooms dominated the second period as the duo combined for 20 of the Eagles’ 27 second-quarter points. Wascher finished the quarter with 12 points, while Grooms had eight as USI shot 81.8 percent (9-11) in the frame to go into the break with a 51-36 halftime advantage.

The Eagles, who ended the first half on a 14-5 run, came out of an extended intermission—the lights in the Roberto Clemente Coliseum went out, causing a delay—by scoring 12 of the first 18 points to build its largest lead of the contest at 63-42.

UPR-Mayaguez (1-6) answered with seven straight points to cut the Eagles’ advantage to 14, but another Grooms three-pointer ended the rally.

USI led by as much as 19 early in the fourth quarter as Wascher and Grooms combined for eight straight points, but the Janes managed to trim that deficit to 12 with just over four minutes to play.

Grooms’ old-fashioned three-point play; followed by her sixth three-pointer with just over three minutes to play turned the Janes away for good as the Eagles held on for their fifth straight win and 10^th of the season.

In addition to Wascher and Grooms, the Eagles got 10 points, a career-high eight assists, and five steals from senior guard Tanner Marcum (New Albany, Indiana). Junior forward Morgan Dahlstrom (Grayslake, Illinois) added four points and eight rebounds for the Eagles, who held a 37-31 rebounding advantage and an 18-12 lead in second-chance points.

Freshman guard Iatmar Rosada Rodriguez led the Janes with 25 points and 13 rebounds, while sophomore guard Hillary Martinez Argueta had 19 points.

USI concludes the calendar year and its non-conference schedule December 30 when it hosts Ohio Dominican University at the Physical Activities Center.

The 24^th-ranked University of Southern Indiana men’s basketball team soared to an 11-0 overall record at the holiday break with a  95-68 victory over Kentucky State University Saturday afternoon in the final day of the Bellarmine University Classic in Louisville, Kentucky. USI sees its record go to 11-0 overall for the sixth time in the history of the program, while Kentucky State is 2-8 in 2016-17.

The Screaming Eagles had to rally in the first half to post a 46-32 lead at the intermission. Senior guard Bobo Drummond (Peoria, Illinois) took command of the game with 10:53 left in the opening half, erasing a five-point deficit (18-13) with 13-straight points in a 15-0 run as the Eagles took the lead, 28-18.

USI would outscore Kentucky State, 33-14, in the final 11 minutes of the opening half and shot a blistering 61.3 percent (19-31) in the first 20 minutes. The Eagles also had a 17-13 advantage on the glass.

In the second half, the Eagles wasted little time in racing out to a comfortable lead by extending the advantage to as many as 28 points, 71-43, with 12:25 left. Kentucky State, however, made one final run at USI and cut the margin to 16 points, 73-57, with 9:16 remaining.

The Eagles responded by rebuilding the margin back to 28 points, 95-67, with under a minute left before settling for the 95-68 victory. USI, as a team, shot 58.1 percent from the field (36-62) and 66.7 percent from the line (14-21), while outrebounding Kentucky State, 36-30.

Senior guard Jeril Taylor (Louisville, Kentucky) led four Eagles in double digits with 22 points. Taylor, who scored 12 of the 22 points in the second half, was eight-of-15 from the field, including two three-point field goals, and four-of-nine from the line.

Taylor was followed by junior forward DayJar Dickson (Washington, D.C.), who had a season-high 14 points on four-of-four from the field and six-of-eight from the line. Senior guard Cortez Macklin (Louisville, Kentucky) and Drummond rounded out the double-figure scorers with 13 points each.

In addition to the double-digit scorers, junior guard Marcellous Washington (Lexington, Kentucky) matched a season-best with eight assists for the second-straight night.

After the holiday break, the season restarts for the Eagles on January 2 at 7 p.m. when they return to the friendly surroundings of the PAC to host Bluefield State University. USI also restarts the Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule next month when it hosts William Jewell College January 5 and Rockhurst University January 7.

Aces finish game on 20-5 run

Christian Benzon scored a career-high 18 points as the University of Evansville men’s basketball team finished the game on a 20-5 run defeat Austin Peay, 77-69, on Saturday evening at the Winfield Dunn Center.

Benzon hit 8 of his 10 shots for the Purple Aces (8-4) while hauling in a team-best seven rebounds.  Jaylon Brown led the way for UE with 25 points, hitting 9 out of 18 shots while having another perfect night from the line, going 6-6.

“Its not easy to win anywhere on the road, especially here.  I am really proud of our guys, they hung in there,” UE head coach Marty Simmons said.  “Christian played really well, that is what you expect from your seniors.  This is just a great road win for us.”

Josh Robinson was the top scorer for the Governors (4-7) as he totaled 24 points while playing all 40 minutes.  He hit 12 out of 13 free throws.  Zach Glotta went 4-5 from outside on his way to 14 tallies.

Neither offense was able to get rolling in the early minutes as Austin Peay held a 5-4 edge at the 15:42 mark.  Evansville made just one of its first six attempts from the field.

Duane Gibson hit a layup with 10:47 left in the period to give UE a 13-11 lead before Austin Peay made the first big run of the game.  The Governors reeled off 11 in a row over the next four minutes to go up 22-13.  They hit four out of six shots in the run, including a pair of triples.

Ryan Taylor hit a trey of his own to end the run as the Aces completed the half on a run of their own, outscoring APSU by a 23-9 margin to go into halftime leading 36-31.  After hitting four of their first 12 shots, the Aces regrouped to finish the period connecting on 10 of their final 13 tries.

Out of the break, the Aces knocked down three of their first five shots on the way to their largest lead of the game at 42-34.  The Governors punched back, hitting all three free throws on a foul before the fifth trey of the night got them within four at 44-40 just over four minutes in.

Midway through the half, Austin Peay went back in front.  A Zach Glotta triple, his fourth of the night, gave the Governors a 54-52 lead and they pushed the lead to seven points (64-57) with 5:58 left on the clock.  At that point, the Aces defense clamped down, notching seven in a row to tie it up three minutes later.  Four of Benzon’s points came in the run before a pair of free throws put APSU back on top.

Benzon’s career night continued as he hit a pair of clutch free throws to tie it at 66 before a Ryan Taylor layup saw UE retake the lead.  Following a pair of Governor free throws that tied it back up, Jaylon Brown’s and-one pushed the UE lead to 71-68 with just over a minute on the clock.  From there, the Aces were able to extend the lead to the final of 77-69.

The rebounding battle went the Aces way by a 36-29 final while UE also outshot APSU, 54.5%-39.6%.

Regular season non-conference play wraps up on Thursday as the Purple Aces will f

University of Southern Indiana junior goalkeeper Adam Zehme (Orland Park, Illinois) was named Scholar All-North Central Region by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. Zehme is the first Screaming Eagle in the history of the program to receive this award.

Student-athletes receiving Scholar All-Region recognition must meet the following criteria:

• Record a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) or better;
• Start more than 50 percent of all games and significantly contribute to their team;
• Nominated by head coach of current NSCAA College Services member institution;
• Junior or above in academic standing; and, if a transfer student, in second year at school.

Zehme, a business administration major, led the Eagles to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time since 1982 and to a 13-4-4 overall record, 10-2-3 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The first-team All-GLVC and CCA/D2SIDA All-Midwest Region goalkeeper concluded the season with a career-best 13 wins, seven shutouts, and 74 saves. He also had a 1.04 goals against average.