The University of Southern Indiana men's basketball team used a 17-3 run mid-way through the first half to defeat Brescia University, 101-72, Saturday afternoon. The Screaming Eagles raised their record to 8-4 overall, while the Bearcats fall to 8-7.

The contest was tight for the first ten minutes with USI holding onto a 24-23 lead before the offensive outburst that saw the lead go to 41-26 in the next five minutes. USI led by as many as 15 points four different times in the first half before settling for a 51-38 halftime advantage.

The second half was all USI with the Eagles building leads of 30 or more points on four different occasions.

Freshman guard Cris Brunson (Evansville, Indiana) led five USI players in double figures with a season-high 19 points off the bench. He also tied a USI single-game record by going a perfect 12-12 from the line, tying Stephen Jackson, who was 11-11 from the line against Lewis University in 1984-85.

Brunson was followed by sophomore forward Billy Harris (Carbondale, Illinois), who had 18 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. Junior forward Diond're Givens (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) and senior forward Marlowe Currie (St. Louis, Missouri) added 12 points each, while senior guard Matt Carter (Cannelton, Indiana) dropped in 10 points.

The Eagles have won three in a row, the longest winning streak of the season, and have gone over the century mark in scoring for the fourth time this year.

The Eagles will open 2002 Thursday, January 3, against top-ranked Kentucky Wesleyan College. The game will be part of a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader with the women's game at 5:15 p.m. and the men's game at 7:30 p.m.