#5 Southern Indiana (14-1, 3-1 GLVC): 95
Bellarmine (4-7, 1-2 GLVC): 76

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Southern Indiana men's basketball team shot a sizzling 74 percent from the field to defeat Bellarmine University, 95-76, Thursday evening in Louisville, Kentucky. Fifth-ranked USI raises its record 15-1 overall and 4-1 in the GLVC, while Bellarmine falls to 4-8, 1-3 GLVC.

The Screaming Eagles, who shot 82.6 percent from the second half (19-23), were 37-of-50 overall from the field and 7-of-14 from beyond the three-point arc for the game.

USI led from start to finish, building a 23 points lead in the first half, 45-23, and had a 16 margin at halftime, 45-29. The Eagles shot 66.7 percent in the first half (18-27) in building their lead.

The Knights tried to get back into the game, cutting the Eagles lead to as low as 10 points on three different occasions. USI would rebuild the lead to a game-high 24 points, 91-67, with 4:16 to play.

USI senior forward Chris Thompson (Starke, Florida) was a perfect nine-of-nine from the field to lead the team with a game-high 24 points. Thompson was followed by junior forward Nick Brooks (Robinson, Illinois), who had 13 points, and junior forward/center Keith Christmas (Gary, Indiana), who dropped in 12 points. Junior guard Melvin Hall (Evansville, Indiana) and senior guard David Bryant (Louisville, Kentucky) rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points each.

USI concludes the first conference road trip of 2006 at Northern Kentucky University Saturday at 2:15 p.m. (CST). NKU raised its record to 9-3 overall and 4-0 in the GLVC with a 71-63 victory over Kentucky Wesleyan College.

The next home game for the Eagles will be January 14 when they start a two-game homestand by hosting Quincy University.