Southern Indiana (0-1 Exhibition): 75
@Evansville (1-0 Exhibition): 88

Box Score

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Southern Indiana men's basketball team lost to the University of Evansville in the first-ever Vectren Community Classic, 88-75, Saturday evening at Roberts Stadium.

It was a defensive battle early in the opening half with the score tied 2-2 after six minutes of action. The Eagles' offense sprang to life down 8-4, outscoring the Aces 19-8 over the next eight minutes to take a 23-16 lead.

Evansville battled back, outscoring USI 18-10 in the final eight minutes of the half to take a 34-33 lead into the locker room at the intermission.

The second half was back-and-forth for the first 10 minutes of the half until USI senior center Randy Holbrook (St. Louis, Missouri) fouled out with 10:13 to play. Evansville proceeded to outscore the Eagles 32-17 over next five minutes to build an 83-68 lead.

The Eagles got the game back to within 10 points at 85-75, with 3:12 minutes to play, but could not convert on the offensive end in the final minutes.

USI was led in the game by senior guard Cris Brunson (Evansville, Indiana), who had 15 points. Junior guard David Bryant (Louisville, Kentucky) and junior forward Chris Thompson (Starke, Florida) followed Brunson with 14 points each, while sophomore forward Geoff Van Winkle (Ferdinand, Indiana) rounded out the double figure scorers with 11 points.

The Eagles won the war on the boards, 38-36, led by Thompson with a game-high 11 rebounds. The game saw 12 lead changes (seven in the first half and eight in the second half) and six ties.

USI concludes the exhibition schedule next Saturday, November 13, at the University of Cincinnati. Game time is 6:05 p.m. (CT). USI will open the 2004-05 regular season campaign November 15 when it hosts Olivet Nazarene University at the Physical Activities Center.