Jones has a career-high 19 points


Final Score: USI 98, Ohio Valley 66
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The ninth-ranked University of Southern Indiana men's basketball team cruised by Ohio Valley University, 98-66, Friday afternoon in the Bellarmine Classic in Louisville, Kentucky.  USI rises to 6-0 overall, while OVU goes to 1-10.
 
The Screaming Eagles took command in the first half as senior forward Aaron Nelson (Chicago Heights, Illinois) propelled them onto a 16-6 run with nine straight points and went into the locker room at halftime with a 20-point advantage, 49-29. USI senior forwards Chuck Jones (Madisonville, Kentucky) and Taylor Wischmeier (Brownstown, Indiana) led the Eagles in the opening half with 10 points each.
 
USI was a blistering 57.5 percent in the first half from the field, hitting 23-of-40 shots.
 
The Eagles quickly extended the halftime lead to 30-points, 66-36, with a 27-7 run in the first five minutes of the second half. USI would push the lead to as many as 39-points, 83-44, with 9:14 left to play and cruised the final nine minutes to the 98-66 final.
 
Jones would lead five Eagles in double-figure scoring with a career-high 19 points. The senior forward came off the bench to hit his first seven shots and finished the game by hitting 64.2 percent from the field (9-14). He also grabbed a career-high eight rebounds.
 
Wischmeier and Nelson followed Jones in the scoring column with 16 points each. Nelson also recorded his sixth-straight double-double with 10 rebounds, while Wischmeier followed by clearing the glass nine times.
 
Senior guard Lawrence Thomas (Springfield, Illinois) and junior guard Gavin Schumann (Cincinnati, Ohio) rounded out the double-figure scorers with 12 points and 11 points, respectively. Shumann also dished out a season-high nine assists, while Thomas contributed on another six baskets.
 
The Eagles complete action in the Bellarmine Classic at 4 p.m. (CST) Saturday when they play Virginia Union University. Virginia Union fell to 1-6 after losing to second-ranked Ballarmine University, 86-64, Friday night.