Final Score: #4 UIndy 92, #20 USI 67
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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The 20
th-ranked University of Southern Indiana men's basketball team was outpaced by the fourth-ranked University of Indianapolis and fell 92-67 Thursday evening in Indianapolis, Indiana. USI falls to 19-5 overall and 11-5 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, while UIndy rose to 22-2, 14-2 GLVC.
The Screaming Eagles scored the first bucket of the game, but then the Greyhounds raced by on a 10-0 run and took a 10-2 lead. UIndy did not slow down as it pushed its first half advantage to 26 points, 47-21, with 4:43 left before halftime.
USI would whittle the UIndy lead down to 20 points by halftime, 53-35, with a 14-6 run of its own. The 14-6 run was spurred by a resurgence of the Eagles' rebounders, who outrebounded the Greyhounds, 12-5, in the final four minutes of the half.
The Eagles came to life to start the second half, cutting the deficit to seven points, 67-60, when senior guard
Lawrence Thomas (Springfield, Illinois) hit a three-point field goal with 11:48 left in the contest. This, however, would be as close as the Eagles would come in the second half.
UIndy regained the momentum in the final 10 minutes and outscored USI, 25-7, to clinch the victory, 92-67.
A big key to the stalling of USI's comeback attempt was the loss of senior forward
Aaron Nelson (Chicago Heights, Illinois) to his fifth foul with 7:02 remaining. Nelson had recorded a USI-record 19
th double-double of the year with 14 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out.
The Eagles also saw their streak of outrebounding their opponents end at 36 games. The Greyhounds controlled the glass at a 45-42 clip with 36 of the UIndy rebounds coming on the defensive end.
Individually, Nelson was joined on top of the USI scoring column by senior forward
Orlando Rutledge (Louisville, Kentucky), who also dropped in 14 points. Nelson and Rutledge were joined in double-figure scoring by Thomas, who had 11 points, and junior guard
Gavin Schumann (Cincinnati, Ohio), who dropped in 10 points.
The loss drops USI into a fourth place tie with Bellarmine University in the GLVC East Division and diminished any hope of a first round bye in the upcoming GLVC Tournament. The Eagles will likely host a GLVC Tournament first round game May 1 or 2 and have to win their way to the Ford Center.
USI completes the 2013-14 road schedule Saturday at 3 p.m. when it travels to play Saint Joseph's College. The Pumas fell to 4-22 overall and 1-15 in the GLVC after losing to Bellarmine, 106-63.
