DAYTON, Ohio – The University of Southern Indiana men's basketball team got into first half foul trouble and had early problems with turnovers in a 96-66 exhibition loss to the University of Dayton Saturday evening in Dayton, Ohio. USI opens the 2014-15 campaign for real at 1 p.m. November 15 when it hosts Davis & Elkins College and starts a five-game homestand.
 
The five-game homestand will be the longest of the season for USI.
 
The Screaming Eagles burst out of gate with an early 5-3 lead on five quick points by senior guard/forward Austin Davis (Freeport, Illinois). That would be the only lead the Eagles would have as the Flyers went on a 21-0 run to build a commanding 28-point lead, 37-9, with 8:07 left before halftime.
 
USI would drop in 17 more points before halftime, but ended the first half in a 57-26 deficit and with four players – Davis, sophomore guard Bobo Drummond (Peoria, Illinois), senior guard TeNale Roland (Louisville, Kentucky), and junior guard Travis Britt (Rantoul, Illinois) – with three fouls each. The Eagles also committed 15 first half turnovers.
 
In the second half, the Eagles seemed to find some rhythm as they posted a 14-3 run to cut a Flyer 34-point lead to 23, 75-52. Schumann led the run with six points, while junior forward George Edwards (Chicago, Illinois) dropped in five points during the best stretch of the game for USI. The 23-piont deficit would be as close as USI would get in the second half despite outscoring Dayton, 40-39.
 
For the game, USI shot 32.8 percent from the field (21-64) and was outrebounded 47-35. The Eagles committed 19 turnovers in the game, but improved in the second half by turning the ball over only four times.
 
Individually, Edwards led the USI scorers with 17 points, 13 points coming in the second half. Senior guard Gavin Schumann (Cincinnati, Ohio) followed Edwards in the scoring column with 16 points, also posting a big second half performance of 12 points. 

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