 University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball rallies in the second half to defeat Bellarmine University, 76-73, in the final quarterfinal game of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament Friday evening in Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s First Community Arena in Edwardsville, Illinois. USI, the fourth seed, rises to 22-7 overall, while Bellarmine, the fifth seed, drops to 20-7.
With the win, USI advances to play the University of Missouri-St. Louis (26-5), the top seed, Saturday at 6 p.m. The Tritons advanced the semifinals with a last-second 53-51 victory over Drury University Thursday night.
The Eagles split the season series with the Tritons, falling 73-68 in St. Louis and winning 67-66 at Screaming Eagles Arena.
USI had a hard time holding onto the basketball in the opening half, committing 15 turnovers, but held firm on defense to go into the locker room down, 39-36, at the break. The Eagles were efficient with their host, hitting 58 percent from the floor (14-24), and led by senior guard Joe Laravie with 10 1st half points.
Laravie was nearly perfect during the opening 20 minutes, hitting three-of-four from the floor, one-of-two from beyond the arc, and three-of-four from the stripe.
In the second half, the fierce battle continued as the final period would feature six ties and 11 lead changes, including the Eagles first lead at 17:50 when Laravie hit a three-pointer. The Knights, after USI and Bellarmine traded the lead back and forth over the next three minutes, regained the momentum and matched their largest lead of the game, 60-53, with 10:31 remaining.
USI responded with a 9-0 run to regain the lead, 61-60, on a three-point bomb at the 8:12 mark by junior guard Mateo Rivera. The lead would go back and forth five more times when junior guard/forward Clayton Hughes gave the Eagles the lead for good, 71-70, on a pair of free throws with 2:10 left.
Senior guard/forward Kobe Caldwell gave USI its largest lead of the game, 74-70, with a three-pointer from the left corner before junior forward Emmanuel Little sealed the 76-73 victory with a pair of free throws with two ticks left on the clock.
USI, as a team, overcame 20 team turnovers by shooting 53.2 percent from the field (25-47) and dominating the glass, 38-19, that produced a 19-5 advantage in second chance points. Junior forward Josh Price paced the USI dominance of the boards by grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds for a third time this year, nine of them coming on the defensive end.
Individually on the scoreboard, Laravie led three Eagles in double-digits with a USI career-best 21 points. The senior guard finished the contest seven-of-10 from the field, four-of-seven from beyond the arc, and the first half three-of-four at the stripe.
Hughes followed Laravie in the scoring column with 14 points, while Rivera third in the scoring column with 10 points.
