Southern Indiana (8-2) 73, Lewis (4-1) 67
Box Score

ROMEOVILLE, Ill.– The University of Southern Indiana men's basketball team opened GLVC play with a 73-67 victory over Lewis University Thursday evening in Romeoville, Illinois. USI wins its seventh straight to raise its record to 8-2 overall and 1-0 in the GLVC, while Lewis falls to 4-2 overall, 0-1 GLVC.

Lewis had control early in the first half, building a 16-8 advantage with 13:00 left. USI caught fire, going on a 19-4 to take the lead, and raced out to a pair of nine-point leads, 31-22 and 34-23.

The Eagles would settle for a six-point advantage by the intermission, 35-29. Junior forward Brandon Russ (Cincinnati, Ohio) led USI during the first half with eight points, while junior forward Anthony Pimble (Bronx, New York) followed in the scoring column with seven points.

In the second half, USI junior guard Marvin Gray (Freeport, Bahamas) took command to help get the Eagles to the finish line. Gray scored 15 of his game-high 17 points in the second half, including four free throws in the final 22 seconds.

The Eagles, who led by as many as eight during the second half, was tested by the Flyers in the final five minutes of the game. Lewis chipped away at the USI lead and tied the game, 62-62, with 4:13 to play.

USI re-established a five-point lead within two minutes when Pimble hit a three-pointer to make the score 65-62 and dunked an offensive rebound to take the margin to 67-62. Pimble would finish the game with 12 points.

The Eagles also won the battle on the boards, outrebounding the Flyers 36-35. Russ, who dropped in 15 points, led the USI squad with a game-high seven rebounds off the bench.

USI concludes the two-game GLVC road swing at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside Saturday at 3 p.m. The Rangers lost 84-69 to Kentucky Wesleyan College this evening, taking their record to 2-5 overall, 0-1 GLVC.