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SCORE: USI 95, NDC 84
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The seventh-ranked University of Southern Indiana men's basketball team had to hold off a second half surge by Notre Dame College (Ohio) to post a 95-84 victory Saturday night at the Physical Activities Center. USI sees its record rise to 5-0 during the season-opening homestand, while NDC goes to 2-5.
The Screaming Eagles, who never trailed in the contest, scored the first bucket and quickly rolled out to a 6-0 lead in the opening minutes. USI continued to build a lead, expanding the margin to 19 points, 41-22, with 4:30 remaining in the opening half.
The Falcon tried to chip away in the first half, cutting the lead to 13 points, 47-34, but USI junior guard
Lawrence Thomas (Springfield, Illinois) pushed the lead back to 19 by halftime, 53-34, when he connected on four-of-five free throws. Thomas earned three trips to the line after being fouled on a three-point attempt with less than a second left in the half and was given two more free throws when a technical foul was called on the NDC bench.
In the second half, NDC's offense came to life with 13:45 to play in the game and went on a 17-4 run to cut the USI lead to one, 71-70. The Falcons' run was aided by four Eagle turnovers and a USI 0-8 cold streak from the field.
A lay-up by junior forward/center
Aaron Nelson (Chicago Heights, Illinois) jump started the USI offense for an 8-0 run to re-extend the margin to 79-70 with 3:51 left. The Falcons chipped away again to close to within four, 81-77, but that would be a close as they would get in the final minutes.
USI quickly pushed the lead back to 14 points with less than a minute left before settling for the 11-point win.
USI junior forward
Orlando Rutledge (Louisville, Kentucky) led four USI starters in double figures with a season-high 22 points. Rutledge was seven-of-13 from the field, one-of-five from beyond the three-point arc, and seven-of-10 from the charity stripe.
Rutledge was followed by junior forward
Taylor Wischmeier (Brownstown, Indiana), who posted his first USI double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Nelson and senior guard
Kenyon Smith (Chicago, Illinois) rounded out USI's double-figure scorers with 18 points and 12 points, respectively.
The Eagles hit the road for a pair of neutral site games December 14-15 in Bellarmine University's Fern Valley Hotel Classic in Louisville, Kentucky. USI is scheduled to play Nova Southeastern University December 14 and the University of Cincinnati-Cleremont December 15. Both games are scheduled for 4 p.m. (CST) tip-offs.
The next regular season match-up at the PAC is December 29 when the Eagles host Cedarville University for 3:15 p.m. contest that starts a three-game homestand.
