Screaming Eagles hold on to defeat Panthers, 64-60
USI has won three of its last four
CHARLESTON, Ill. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball held off a second half surge by Eastern Illinois University to post a 64-60 win Saturday afternoon in Charleston, Illinois. The Screaming Eagles are 9-11 overall and 4-6 in OVC action, while the Panthers go to 5-15, 1-8 OVC.
USI spotted EIU a 7-0 lead to start the game before the Eagles’ sophomore forward Stephen Olowoniyi posted a basket to cut the deficit to 7-2. The Panthers would get their lead to eight points, 10-2, before the Eagles started to close the gap.
The Eagles’ deficit shrank to three points, 12-9, on a bucket by junior guard Jayland Randall with 13:22 on the clock. USI continued its push to a 15-13 lead after a three-point bomb by junior guard Braxton Jones capped off a 13-3 run at 9:51. Jones finished the half with a team-high six points on a pair of three-pointers.
The USI lead would continue to grow to 14 points, 30-16, with a 15-1 run and a shutdown defense that held EIU without a bucket for over 10 minutes (13:02-2:48). The Eagles finished the opening half with an 11-point margin, 30-19.
The 19 points by EIU was the first time USI had held an opponent under 20 points in a half since January 14, 2012 when it held Rockhurst University to 17 points in the first half and 14 points in the second.
The second half started with USI having the hot hand, hitting five-of-six from the field and increasing the halftime margin to 16 points, 42-26. The margin would grow to 20-points, 46-26, on a modest 9-0 run that saw the USI defense hold EIU without a point for another 5:37 (17:21 to 11:44).
EIU would make a push with a 13-4 run midway through the final half, cutting the USI advantage to 11 points, 50-39, with 6:21 to play. The Eagles pushed the lead back to 13 points, 57-43, but the Panthers clawed their way back to within four points with seven seconds left before USI could close out the 64-60 win.
Olowoniyi led the Eagles in the scoring column with 13 points. The sophomore forward was six-of-10 from the field and one-of-two from the stripe. Junior guard Sam Kodi and Jones followed Olowoniyi with nine points each.
Next Up For USI:
The final game of the three-game road swing is Tuesday when USI travels to Morehead, Kentucky, to face Morehead State University. Start time is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. (CST).
The MSU Eagles are 13-8 and an OVC-best 8-2 in the league after falling on the road to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, 65-54, Saturday. Morehead State has won five of six games and 10 of the last 12.
Morehead State extended its all-time series lead over USI to 4-1 after winning at Liberty Arena, 70-68. USI junior guard Damoni Harrison led USI with a game-high 24 points, while junior guard Braxton Jones came off the bench to score 20.
The next home game for USI at Liberty Arena is February 1 when it starts a three-game homestand by hosting Tennessee Tech University. Tickets for the homestand and all USI home dates are on sale now at USIScreamingEagles.com.
