EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Southern Indiana men's basketball team built double-digit first half lead, but had to hold on to defeat King College, 78-70, Sunday afternoon at the Physical Activities Center. USI raises its record to 2-0, while King drops to 0-2 to start the 2010-11 campaign.
The first 10 minutes had the Screaming Eagles and the Tornados neck-and-neck, but USI pulled away with a 21-5 run to lead 37-22 with two minutes left in the opening half. The Eagles would push the margin to 17 points, 41-24, before going into the locker room with a 41-27 lead at the intermission.
Senior center
Mohamed Ntumba (Kinshasa, Congo) led the Eagles during the run by scoring nine of his 13 first half points. Junior forward
Isaac McClure (Paducah, Kentucky) also reached double-digits in the first 20 minutes with 11 points.
In the second half, the Tornados started to hit from long range and began to chip away at the Eagles' lead. King, which hit seven-of-12 from beyond the three-point arc in the second half, outscored USI, 41-28, in the 16 minutes after halftime to pull to within one, 69-68.
The USI defense stiffened in the final four minutes, holding King to one lay-up and only five shots. Eagles' senior guard
Kevin Gant (Indianapolis, Indiana) came up big with a three-pointer to re-extend the lead to four points and sealed the victory with three free throws in the final 20 seconds.
The Eagles had four players reach double-digits in scoring with senior forward
Nick Duncheon (Montgomery, Indiana) hitting for 18 points. Duncheon had 10 points in the second half to lead USI.
Duncheon was followed in the scoring column by Ntumba and McClure with 14 points each, while Gant rounded out the top scorers for USI with 10 points. Ntumba also recorded his second straight double-double with 10 rebounds.
As a team, the Eagles shot 50.9 percent (27-53) and outrebounded the Tornados, 45-21. USI had an incredible 15-4 advantage on the offensive boards.
USI continues its three-games-in-five-days start of the season Tuesday at 7 p.m. when they host McKendree University. The Bearcats are off to a 2-3 start after splitting their games in the McKendree Classic on Friday and Saturday.
