USI misses last shot, falls to SIUE

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball missed a final chance to tie and lost to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, 67-64, Thursday evening at First Community Arena in Edwardsville, Illinois. The Screaming Eagles rise to 5-13 overall and start OVC play 2-3, while the Cougars are 9-8 overall, 2-2 OVC.
 
Foul trouble and a slow start to the offense plagued the Eagles throughout a first half that saw them down 33-26 at the intermission. USI committed 12 fouls, resulting in 11 Cougar points from free throws. Six Eagles had a pair of fouls after 20 minutes.
 
A bright spot for the Eagles was on defense. USI held SIUE to 37.5 percent from the field (9-24) and was even on the glass with 19 rebounds to each team.
 
The USI offense could not find the range early and shot only 26.9 percent (7-26) from the field in the opening 20 minutes. Senior forward Nolan Causwell (Duluth, Georgia) and sophomore guard/forward AJ Smith (Edwardsville, Illinois) paced the Eagles through the first half with six points each.  
 
The Eagles flew out of the locker room to start the second half, going on an 11-2 run to take its first lead of the game, 37-35. Smith, junior guard Jeremiah Hernandez (Chicago, Illinois), and sophomore guard Jack Campion (Milton, Wisconsin) deposited three-point bombs, while junior forward Nick Hittle (Indianapolis, Indiana) looped in a baby hook shot in the run to the lead.
 
The Cougars responded with a 7-0 run of their own to take bake the lead, 42-37. USI rallied again with a 9-0 surge to post its largest lead of the game, 46-42, with 12 minutes to play.
 
SIUE put USI back on its heels with an 17-2 dash and regained the advantage 59-48 with 4:20 left. The Cougars also held USI without a basket for 6:11 and into six turnovers during their run.
 
After falling behind 61-50 with 2:27 to play, USI cut the deficit to six in 20 seconds, 62-56, after junior forward Jack Mielke (Downers Grove, Illinois) hit a pair of free throws with 2:07 showing on the clock. The Eagles continued to rally and cut the margin to one, 65-64, with 14.5 ticks left on the clock on a rebound and lay-in by Smith.
 
Following a pair of free throws by SIUE to make the score, 67-64, USI could not find a tying bucket in the final seconds of its third OVC loss of the season.
 
Smith led three Eagles in double-digits with his eighth double-double of the season with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Hernandez followed with 15 points, while Campion rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points.
 
Next Up For USI:
USI returns to the friendly surroundings of Screaming Eagles Arena next week for a pair of OVC games. The Eagles are slated to host the University of Arkansas at Little Rock January 18 at 7:30 p.m. and Morehead State University January 20 at 3:30 p.m. during the homestand.
 
Little Rock (8-9, 2-2 OVC), which is idle tonight, will play the University of Tennessee at Martin Saturday before coming to USI. The Eagles won the first two meetings of the two programs last year, defeating the Trojans at home, 74-67, and in Little Rock, 82-81.
 
Morehead State (13-4, 4-0 OVC) has a trio of games before visiting USI. The MSU Eagles won at Eastern Illinois University tonight, 78-52, and finish this week with a visit to SIUE on Saturday. They host the UT Martin on January 18 before returning to the road against USI.