USI bows out of the GLVC Tournament

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball bowed out of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament with a 90-68 loss to University of Missouri-St. Louis in the semifinals Friday evenings at First Community Arena in Edwardsville, Illinois. USI, the fifth seed, finishes the season 18-8 overall, while UMSL, the fourth seed, advances with a 22-6.
 
The Screaming Eagles went toe to toe with the Tritons for the first 10 minutes of the contest and was even with UMSL at 19-19 at 10:21 of the first half. UMSL created some distance between itself and the Eagles in the final 10, outscoring USI, 24-13, to lead at the break 43-32.
 
The Tritons exploded out of the locker room to start the second half and extend their lead to as many as 20 points, 54-34, with 16:05 remaining. USI would try to claw back into the game, reducing the margin to 16 points several times, but that would be as close they would come the rest of the game.
 
Junior guard Jelani Simmons (Columbus, Ohio) led the Eagles with a season-high 23 points, while junior forward Jacob Polakovich (Grand Rapids, Michigan) and senior guard Clayton Hughes (Jackson, Tennessee) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points each.