BOX SCORE: USI 101, OVU 35
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Southern Indiana men's basketball team completed a sweep of the Fern Valley Hotel Classic with a 101-35 victory over Ohio Valley University. USI reaches the 8-0 mark in 2009-10, while Ohio Valley falls to 1-7.
The match-up was close for the first five minutes of the game when the Screaming Eagles came alive. USI outscored OVU in the final 15 minutes of the opening half, 41-11, and led 49-19 at the intermission.
In the second half, the Eagles continued on their torrid pace and put the game away with a 17-2 run. USI would go on to lead by as many as 67 points, 96-29, with 4:09 left in the second half. The final 66 point margin of victory was nine points short of the school record.
The 101 points is the first time this season that the Eagles have top the century mark. The 35 OVU points was the second time in two seasons that USI has held an opponent to less than 40 points and missed tying a school record by one point.
Individually, USI was led by senior guard Jamar Smith (Peoria, Illinois) with a career-high 33 points and a school record nine three-point field goals. Smith's career-high nine three-point field goals broke the USI single-game record of eight that was set by Robin Clark in 1991 and matched a total of eight times.
USI had a total of five player reach double figures in scoring by the end of the game. Smith was followed by senior forward Tyrone Bradshaw (Cincinnati, Ohio), who had 16 points, and senior guard Marvin Gray (Freeport, Bahamas), who had a season-best 14 points off the bench. Junior forward Mohamed Ntumba (Kinshasa, Congo) and sophomore guard Brandon Hogg (Edwardsville, Illinois) rounded out the double-figure scorers with a season-best 12 points and 10 points, respectively.
The Eagles shot over 50 percent for the sixth time in eight games, hitting 54.4 percent (37-68) for the game. The USI shooters were enabled by the game-high and career-best 12 assists by Eagles' junior point guard Kevin Gant (Indianapolis, Indiana).
Gant also led USI in rebounding with a career-high nine boards as USI out rebounded OVU, 47-29.
USI returns to the friendly surroundings of the Physical Activities Center Monday when it hosts Lake Erie College for a 7:30 p.m. match-up. Monday's game starts a five-game homestand for the Eagles.
