EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball lost a hard-fought battle with Southeast Missouri State University, 70-66, Saturday evening at Screaming Eagles Arena. The Screaming Eagles drop to 8-23 overall and 5-13 in OVC play, while the Redhawks are 9-22 overall, 4-14 OVC.
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Prior to the game, USI earned the eighth seed in the OVC Championship following the loss by Tennessee Tech University to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock this afternoon. USI will play fifth-seeded Tennessee State University Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. The OVC post-season will run March 6-9 at the Ford Center in Evansville.
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USI struggled offensively throughout most of the first half, shooting only 19.4 percent from the field (6-31), but trailed by four game the break due to connecting on 14-of-18 from the stripe. The first when back-and-forth throughout the opening 20 minutes with five lead changes and four ties until SEMO put together a run to lead 32-23 with 1:58 before halftime.
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The Eagles got the final five points of the opening half and went into the locker trailing by four, 32-28.
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The second half saw the Eagles eliminate the first half deficit, taking the lead, 37-36, on a dunk by sophomore guard/forward AJ Smith (Edwardsville, Illinois) with 16:22 left. After trading leads, SEMO regained control, boosting the lead to back to as many as eight points, 67-59, before closing out the 70-66 decision.
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USI was led by junior guard Jeremiah Hernandez (Chicago, Illinois), who had 21 points, while Smith followed with 19 points for the only Eagles in double-digits.
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Before the game tonight, the Eagles honored senior forward Nolan Causwell (Duluth Georgia). Causwell is a senior transfer, who is averaging 3.3 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.
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