Eagles wins hard fought battle with Panthers
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SCORE: USI 80, KWC 68
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The ninth-ranked University of Southern Indiana men's basketball team completed the "Battle for the Bridge" sweep of Kentucky Wesleyan College, 80-68, Saturday afternoon in the Physical Activities Center. USI rises to 8-0 overall, while KWC falls to 7-6 in 2013-14.
The victory marks the third time in five seasons that the Screaming Eagles have flown through the first third of the season with an unblemished 8-0 mark. USI also has reached the 8-0 plateau nine times in the history of the program.
In the history of the "Battle for the Bridge" trophy, USI has been a dominating 15-9 against KWC since 2000-01 and has won the last four meetings.
The Eagles led the game from start to finish, building a 13-point lead, 19-6, in the first 10 minutes of the contest. The Panthers, however, were not about to go quietly, slashing the Eagles' advantage to a few as five points, 28-23, with 2:46 left in the opening half.
USI used a 4-0 spurt to push the lead back to nine points, 32-23, with 1:44 to play in the first half, before going into the locker room with a 32-25 lead.
In the second half, the Eagles methodically extended its halftime lead to 14 point twice, 56-42 and 58-44, with just under seven minutes left. KWC made a final surge, cutting the margin to seven points, 67-60, when USI was awarded eight free throws on a foul and three technical fouls on the Panther bench.
While USI was only able to convert two of the eight free throws, the Eagles used the time to regroup and took back the momentum. USI pushed the lead back to 13 points, 78-65, before settling for the 80-68 victory.
Individually, senior forward Aaron Nelson (Chicago Heights, Illinois) led five players in double-figures with his eighth-straight double-double of the season. Nelson posted 20 points and 10 rebounds in tying Chris Bowles' 1991-92 record of eight-straight double-doubles.
USI senior forward Manny Ogunfolu (Rockville, Maryland) followed Nelson with 12 points, while senior guard Ben Jones (Robinson, Illinois) and junior guard Gavin Schumann (Cincinnati, Ohio) posted 11 points each. Senior forward Orlando Rutledge (Louisville, Kentucky) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points in his season-debut.
The Eagles are idle until January 3 when they open the Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule on the road at Rockhurst University. They complete the GLVC-opening road swing January 5 at William Jewell College.
USI returns to the friendly surroundings of the Physical Activities Center January 9 when it starts a four-game homestand with Missouri University of Science & Technology. The homestand also includes a match-up with the reigning NCAA Division II national champion and third-ranked Drury University (January 11); Saint Joseph's College (January 16); and the University of Indianapolis (January 18).
