USI’s streak snapped in OT by Skyhawks

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball had its five-game winning streak snapped in overtime by the University of Tennessee at Martin, 86-83, Saturday afternoon in Martin, Tennessee. The Eagles go to 13-10 overall and 6-4 in the OVC, while the Skyhawks are 15-8, 7-3 OVC.   
 
With the loss, USI falls out of the first-place tie in the OVC and into a fourth-place tie with Tennessee Tech University and a game out of league’s top spot. UTM, Morehead State University, and Southeast Missouri State University are tied for first in the conference with 7-3 league marks.
 
USI and UTM battled back and forth during the opening 20 minutes that featured eight ties and five lead changes. The Eagles, whose largest lead of game was three-points, 20-17, during the first half, shot only 31.3 percent from the field (10-32) for the first stanza, but seven of the 10 buckets were from beyond the three-point arc.
 
Senior guard Jelani Simmons (Columbus, Ohio) paced the Eagles through the first 20 minutes with nine points on a trio of three-point field goals.
 
The second half leaned toward the Skyhawks as they slowly built a 10-point lead, 61-51, with 8:52 to play in the game. The Eagles quickly cut the deficit to four-points, 61-57, with 7:40 left on the clock after a three-pointer by junior guard Tyler Henry (Brooklyn, New York) and three free throws by graduate forward Trevor Lakes (Lebanon, Indiana).
 
UTM would rebuild its lead to seven points, 74-67 with 1:59 to play when USI rallied with a 7-0 run to knot at game, 74-74, at the end of regulation. Lakes sent the game into overtime when he hit a three-point bomb from the top of the key with 16.8 seconds left.
 
In the overtime, UTM would outscore USI, 12-9, and led all five of the extra minutes for the three-point, 86-83 final. USI had a chance down the stretch of overtime after tying the game, 79-79, with 3:19 left, but could not get into the lead.
 
For the game, USI had four players in double-digits and was led by Simmons, who tied a career-high with 26 points. Simmons was eight-of-14 from the field, a blistering five-of-seven from beyond the arc, and five-of-seven from the stripe.
 
Lakes followed Simmons in the scoring column with 17 points, scoring 14 in the second half and overtime. USI’s double-figure scorers were rounded out by Henry and senior forward Jacob Polakovich (Grand Rapids, Michigan) with 12 points each.
 
Henry, who reached 1,000 career points in Thursday’s win over Eastern Illinois University, reached double-digits for the first time since scoring 12 versus EIU in December.
 
Polakovich continues to be dominating in the middle and combined his 12 points with another 20 rebounds for his 11^th double-double of the season, five behind the single-season record of 16 set by Chris Thompson in 2005-06. He also has had six double-doubles in the last eight games.
 
The 20-rebound performance also was Polakovich’s fifth game of the season with 20-or-more boards.