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Score: USI 65, SCC 62

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – University of Southern Indiana senior guard Brandon Hogg (Edwardsville, Illinois) and junior guard Keynon Smith (Chicago, Illinois) combined for 46 points to lead the third-ranked Screaming Eagles to a 65-62 victory over St. Catharine College in Bellarmine University's Fern Valley Hotel Classic in Louisville, Kentucky. USI soars to 7-0 overall, while St. Catharine falls to 6-6.
 
The Screaming Eagles used an 8-0 run to take control and lead 12-8 by the midway points of the opening half. USI would nurse a one-to-two bucket lead for most of the opening stanza before enlarging the margin to eight points, 35-27, by the intermission.
 
Hogg dominated the first half for the Eagles and scored 19 points by halftime. He hit 7-of-13 from the field, including a pair of three-point field goals, during the first 20 minutes. Smith also had a big opening half for the Eagles, posting nine points and grabbing nine rebounds.
 
The second half saw the Eagles extend their halftime lead to 11 points, 42-31, when Hogg hit three-straight free throws after being fouled outside the three-point arc. The Patriots, however, rallied in the final 10 minutes of the game and cut the margin to one point four times with the final time coming with four seconds left.
 
Hogg, who finished the game with a career-high 31 points, and Smith, who finished with a career-high double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds, sealed the game for USI by hitting two free throws each in the final 15 seconds. USI freshman forward Austin Davis (Freeport, Illinois) also had seven clutch points in the second half, while sophomore forward Taylor Wischmeier (Brownstown, Indiana) grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds.
 
The Eagles complete the four-game road swing and the Fern Valley Hotel Classic Saturday at 4 p.m. (CST) versus Ohio Valley University. Ohio Valley is 3-4 in 2011-12 and plays sixth-ranked Bellarmine University tonight.