Eagles are the second seed in the GLVC Tournament
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The sixth-ranked University of Southern Indiana men's basketball team got back on track for Senior Day with a 63-60 victory over 21st-ranked Northern Kentucky University Saturday afternoon in the Physical Activities Center. USI raises its record to 22-4 overall and 14-4 in the GLVC, while NKU ends the regular season 19-7, 12-6 GLVC.
The victory also nails down the number two seed in the upcoming GLVC Tournament, which is scheduled to begin February 26. Tip-off for the first round game at the PAC will be 7:30 p.m. with USI hosting either Rockhurst University or the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.
The Screaming Eagles burst out of the gate on Senior Day and built a 12-point lead by the intermission, 35-23. USI's defense held NKU to just 29 percent from the field (9-31) and had a 10-rebound advantage (26-16) in the first 20 minutes.
After USI upped the margin to 14 points to open the second half, NKU began to close the gap. The Norse chipped away at the Eagles' lead and was able to retake the advantage, 60-59, with 1:56 remaining. The lead was NKU's first since the 14:53 mark of the first half.
The Eagles rebounded to take back control when senior center
Mohamed Ntumba (Kinshasa, Congo) sank a pair of free throws to give USI a 61-60 lead. Senior guard
Kevin Gant (Indianapolis, Indiana) sealed the USI win with a lay-up with nine ticks left on the clock.
The Norse had one last shot left with three seconds, but NKU guard Tony Rack missed a three-point field goal.
Individually, USI was led by game-high 19-point performance of Ntumba. He was eight-of-15 from the field and connected on three-of-six from the charity stripe, while blocking five shots.
Junior forward
Isaac McClure (Paducah, Kentucky) followed Ntumba in the scoring column with 17 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. The USI double-digit scorers were rounded out by the 10-points of junior guard
Brandon Hogg (Edwardsville, Indiana).
