Eagles host Ohio Dominican Sunday
 
USI GAMES NOTES

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The 12th-ranked University of Southern Indiana men's basketball team tips off the 2011-12 regular season campaign Sunday at 3 p.m. when they host Ohio Dominican University at the Physical Activities Center.
 
The Screaming Eagles open the search for their 18^th 20-win season in the last 20 years after posting a 24-6 record in 2010-11. The squad also will be in search of its second straight NCAA Division II Tournament appearance and its 17^th in the last 20 campaigns.
 
USI is coming off a 65-49 exhibition loss to Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. The Boilermakers used a 20-2 run in the final 10 minutes of the first half to take control of the game, but the Eagles won the second half by outscoring Purdue, 31-27.
 
Eagles' sophomore guard Lawrence Thomas (Springfield, Illinois) sparked USI in the second half by scoring 10 of his game-high 15 points in the final 20 minutes. Thomas also was appearing in a USI uniform for the first time since redshirting last year with a knee injury.
 
Senior guard Brandon Hogg (Edwardsville, Illinois), USI's top returning scorer, followed with 11 points and a game-high four assists, while sophomore forward Taylor Wischmeier (Brownstown, Indiana) had 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
 
Ohio Dominican, which opens its season at Southern Illinois University Saturday before coming to USI, is emerging from a 6-20 overall record in 2010-11 and a 3-16 mark in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Panthers also return four starters and 11 letterwinnners from last year.
 
Leading the Panthers are junior guard Morgan Jones, who averaged a team-best 13.0 points per game a year ago, and senior center Aaron Gibbs, who averaged 12.8 points and a team-high 7.3 rebounds per contest in 2010-11.
 
USI won the first meeting with Ohio Dominican, 80-63, in the last season's opener at the PAC. C.J. Trotter led the way for USI with 17 points, while Hogg dropped in 12 points for the Eagles. Gibbs led the Panthers in the loss with 12 points.
 
The USI-Ohio Dominican game starts a four-game homestand for the Eagles that includes the Bill Joergens Memorial Classic after Thanksgiving.