Screaming Eagles outflown by Golden Eagles, 78-65

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Screaming Eagles outflown by Golden Eagles, 78-65

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball lost a battle with Tennessee Tech University, 78-65, Saturday afternoon at Liberty Arena. The Screaming Eagles are 9-13 overall and 4-8 in OVC action, while the Golden Eagles go to 12-11, 7-5 OVC.

USI and TTU traded buckets for the first few minutes of the game before the Golden Eagles jumped out to a six-point lead, 11-5. USI junior guard Damoni Harrison led a 12-5 charge to get the Screaming Eagles a 17-16 lead by the 9:54 mark.

TTU slowly eased out in front, 25-20, but a quick burst by USI saw the game tied for the fifth time in the half, 25-25. The Screaming Eagles and the Golden Eagles would continue to trade the advantage for the final four minutes of the half until TTU took a 34-31 lead into the intermission.

After the intermission, TTU forced USI to call a timeout three minutes into the final half after extending the halftime advantage to eight points, 41-33, with a 7-2 wave. The Screaming Eagles responded with an 11-2 run to close the gap to 45-44 behind six points by sophomore forward Stephen Olowoniyi and five points by Harrison.

The USI run would extend to 15-5 as the Screaming Eagles knotted the score at 48-48 with 9:38 to play on a Harrison layup. TTU, however, would jump back out in front with a quick 8-0 dash to take the momentum back, 56-48, with seven minutes to play and extended the margin by 6:25 to play to 12 points, 62-50.

USI would close the gap to eight points, 65-57, on a three-pointer by junior guard Jack Campion with 1:52 left, as the Screaming Eagles tried to regain the momentum. Campion would pull USI to within six points with a two-point bucket, 65-59, but that would be as close as the Screaming Eagles would come before TTU closed out the 78-65 contest.

Individually for the game, Harrison posted a team-high 22 points on nine-of-21 from the field, including four three-point bombs. Olowoniyi followed with 17 points on eight-of-19 from the field and one of four from the stripe.

Campion and Randall rounded out the USI double-digit scorers with 13 points and 11 points, respectively.

Next Up For USI:
USI continues its three-game homestand with Homecoming next week when the Screaming Eagles host the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Thursday and Southeast Missouri State University Saturday. Both games are slated for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.

The Trojans of Little Rock are 13-9 overall, 7-4 OVC, and scheduled to play the University of Tennessee at Martin tonight at home. Little Rock has lost its last two games since winning five straight.

Little Rock took command of the all-time series with USI, 3-2, by posting a 78-58 win in January. Harrison led the way for the Eagles with 17 points in the loss.

The homestand concludes February 8 when USI hosts SEMO, which is 13-10 overall and 8-4 in the OVC, for the Homecoming game. SEMO defeated Tennessee State University in overtime, 89-87, today and visits Morehead State University Thursday before coming to USI.

SEMO leads the all-time series with USI, 7-3, after posting a 77-66 win in Cape Girardeau last month. USI junior guard Sam Kodi led four Eagles in double-digits with 15 points. Junior guard Braxton Jones followed with 13 points, while sophomore forward Stephen Olowoniyi and junior guard Damoni Harrison had 12 points and 11 points, respectively.

Tickets for the homestand and all USI home dates are on sale now at USIScreamingEagles.com.

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