EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball hopes to restart its season in Ohio Valley Conference action, beginning with visits to Southeast Missouri State University Friday and Lindenwood University Sunday. Tipoff at SEMO is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and at Lindenwood is slated for 2:30 p.m. in St. Charles, Missouri.

Fans can track your Eagles all season by visiting the schedule on USIScreamingEagles.com for links to follow all of the action on the ESPN+, ESPN 97.7FM (http://listentotheref.com), and 95.7FM The Spin (http://957thespin.com/).
 
USI, which is 3-10, finished a tough non-conference slate with an 81-50 loss at Southern Illinois University December 22. Sophomore guard/forward AJ Smith (Edwardsville, Illinois) led the Eagles with 14 points and 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season.  
 
Overall last week in the win over the University of Saint Francis and the loss at SIU, Smith led USI last week with 15.0 points and 9.5 rebounds in the two contests. Junior forward Jack Mielke (Downers Grove, Illinois) followed with 13.0 points per contest, while sophomore Ryan Hall (Kettering, Ohio) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10.5 points per game.
 
Through 13 games of the season, junior guard Jeremiah Hernandez (Chicago, Illinois) and Smith lead USI in scoring with 12.5 points and 11.6 points per game, respectively. Smith also leads the team with 9.5 rebounds per contest.
 
The Redhawks of SEMO were 4-8 in non-conference action after losing to Illinois State University December 21 on the road, 85-64, but is .500 over the last six games. The Lions of Lindenwood defeated Rockford University, 81-54, December 22, and are 6-7 overall in the run up to OVC play.
 
USI trails the all-time series with SEMO, 4-3, after splitting the OVC matchups last year. The Eagles took the opening game at Screaming Eagles Arena, 86-81, but lost in Cape Girardeau, 85-80.
 
After last season sweep, USI leads the all-time series with Lindenwood, 6-0. The Eagles took the opening meeting in St. Charles, 81-65, and completed the sweep at Screaming Eagles Arena, 74-64, for one of two OVC series sweeps last season.
 
Following this week’s OVC road games, USI comes home to host Tennessee State University January 4 and Tennessee Tech University January 6 at Screaming Eagles Arena.

Aces prepping to face Cincinnati on Friday

ST. LOUIS– Following a pair of home victories last week, a pair of University of Evansville men’s basketball players were recognized on Wednesday for their accomplishments.  Ben Humrichous earned Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week honors for the second time this season while Chuck Bailey III recorded his fourth Freshman of the Week award.

Humrichous led the Aces to a pair of victories last week, averaging 15.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.  He played a team-high 27:45 in the two contests while shooting 50% from the field and 63.6% (7-of-11) from outside.  In the victory over UT Martin, Humrichous recorded 15 points with the majority of his points coming at the free throw line where he hit 7 of his 9 attempts.  In 37 minutes, he picked up 9 rebounds and a block.

He followed that up with another 15-point game versus Tennessee Tech.  With UE having a large lead, he played 20 minutes, but was a perfect 5-for-5 from 3-point range and had 4 boards, an assist and steal.

Over the last week of action for the Purple Aces, Chuck Bailey III tied for the team lead with 15.0 points per game while adding 5.0 rebounds.  He shot 47.4% from the field and connected on 3 of his 6 outside tries.  At the line, Bailey was a perfect 9-for-9.  Bailey started the week with a 12-point effort against UT Martin.  He hauled in a career-high 6 boards and converted 5 free throw tries.

The win over Tennessee Tech saw Bailey finished with 18 points in just 17 minutes of work (due to UE having a large lead).  He was 6-for-9 from the floor, 2-for-2 from outside and knocked down all four free throw tries.  Bailey added 2 assists and a steal.

Evansville, In.:  Having now won 5 of their last 6 games and earning at least a point in all 6 games, the Thunderbolts continue to move up in the SPHL standings as they prepare to close out 2023 on New Year’s Eve when they host the Macon Mayhem at Ford Center.

Week In Review:  

In a wild back-and-forth game in Peoria, the Thunderbolts battled their way to a 5-4 shootout win on Friday behind two goals in regulation from Mike Ferraro, and one each from Bair Gendunov and Brendan Harrogate.  Gendunov and Scott Kirton provided goals in the shootout, while Cole Ceci stopped 24 of 28 shots in regulation and overtime, plus 4 of 5 in the shootout.  The Thunderbolts held a 3-1 lead late in Saturday’s rematch in Peoria with two goals from Tommy Stang and one from Gendunov, but the Rivermen came back to force overtime and win 4-3.  On Tuesday night in Huntsville, the Thunderbolts flipped the script by coming back from a late 1-0 deficit with a goal from Grayson Valente to force overtime, where Kirton scored to win the game for Evansville 2-1.

The Week Ahead: 

The Thunderbolts will be in Quad City this Friday and Saturday night to take on the Storm, both games at Vibrant Arena at The MARK beginning at 7:10pm CT.  Fans can watch both games on FloHockey with a paid subscription or can listen in for free on the Thunderbolts Mixlr Channel.  Fans can also watch both games at the Official Thunderbolts away game watch party at Parkway Pizza on 3911 Broadway Avenue on Evansville’s West Side.  Sunday will be New Year’s Eve, and the Thunderbolts will host the Macon Mayhem at 7:00pm CT at Ford Center for the biggest New Year’s Eve event in the Tri-State, featuring a post-game jersey auction and a fireworks show inside Ford Center immediately after the auction.  For tickets, call (812)422-BOLT (2548), go to EvansvilleThunderbolts.com, or visit the Ford Center Ticket Office

Coming Soon:  

The Thunderbolts will host the Quad City Storm next Friday, January 5^th and Saturday, January 6^th, both games beginning at 7:00pm CT.  Friday will be Thunderbolts Night, with more details and game elements coming soon.  Saturday will be Gamer’s Night, featuring specialty jerseys worn by the Thunderbolts that will be auctioned off immediately after the game.

Scouting the Opponent:  

• Quad City Storm: 

1. • Record: 9-10-0, 18 Points, T-7^th Place
   • Leading Goal Scorer: Matt Ustaski (16 Goals)
   • Leading Point Scorer: Matt Ustaski (28 Points)
   • Primary Goaltender: Brent Moran (3-4-0, .902 Save %)
   • Thunderbolts 23-24 Record vs QCS: 1-3

The Storm held several leads on Friday night in Huntsville, however the Havoc took control of the game in the third period to defeat Quad City 6-4.  Logan Nelson, Cole Golka, Leif Mattson and Matt Ustaski each scored goals to give the Storm one-goal leads, before the Havoc scored three consecutive goals in the third period.  Down 1-0 on Saturday in Knoxville, Quad City scored three-straight goals of their own, from Nelson, Golka, and Michael Moran, which proved to be enough in a 3-2 win over the Ice Bears.  On Tuesday against Peoria, the Storm rallied late from a 5-2 deficit, but fell just short in a 5-4 loss.  Golka scored twice while Ustaski and John Schiavo scored one goal each.

• Macon Mayhem: 

1. • Record: 4-12-4, 12 Points, 10^th Place
   • Leading Goal Scorer: Michael McChesney/Alex Laplante (7 Goals Each)
   • Leading Point Scorer: Tommy Munichiello (17 Points)
   • Primary Goaltender: Josh Boyko (2-9-4, .902 Save %)
   • Thunderbolts 23-24 Record vs MAC: 1-0-1

The struggling Mayhem suffered another pair of losses this past weekend at the hands of the Pensacola Ice Flyers, beginning with a 6-1 defeat at home on Friday, with Justin Cmunt providing the lone goal.  The Mayhem faired slightly better on Saturday in Pensacola, potting three goals from Tommy Munichiello, Jamie Dorsey and Michael McChesney, but fell short in a 7-3 loss.  The Mayhem will play in Peoria this Friday and Saturday before traveling to Evansville for Sunday’s game.

Call-up Report 

– Colton Kalezic (Cincinnati Cyclones)

– 10 GP, 1 G, 1 A, 2 P, 0 PIM

– Mike Ferraro (Savannah Ghost Pirates)

– 0 GP, 0 G, 0 A, 0 P, 0 PIM

– Cole Ceci (Atlanta Gladiators)

– 0 GP, 0-0-0, .000 Save %, 0.00 GAA

Transactions:     

Wed. 12/27: G Cole Ceci called up to ECHL Atlanta

Tue. 12/26: F Mike Ferraro called up to ECHL Savannah

Tue. 12/26: F Vadim Vasjonkin claimed off waivers from Peoria

Tue. 12/19: D Michael Greco placed on 14-Day Injured Reserve

Tue. 12/19: F Bruno Kreisz claimed off waivers from Roanoke