EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Southern Indiana men's basketball team returned to the win column with a 98-81 victory over Saint Joseph's College Saturday afternoon at the Physical Activities Center. USI, which snapped a four-game losing streak, goes to 14-7 overall and 6-5 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, while Saint Joseph's sees its record go to 8-12, 4-7 GLVC.
 
USI junior guard Bobo Drummond (Peoria, Illinois) dominated a first half that saw the Screaming Eagles post a 10-point, 51-41, halftime advantage. Drummond dropped 20 points on the Pumas in the opening half, hitting six-of-nine from the beyond the arc and two-of-two from the charity stripe.
 
The Eagles also were hot from the field as a team in the first 20 minutes, hitting 62.5 percent (15-24) and 50 percent (7-24) from long range. USI also took advantage of 15 trips to the free throw line, converting 14 times.
 
In the second half, junior guard Jeril Taylor (Louisville, Kentucky) took his turn at dominating the game. Taylor led the Eagles with 14 second half points on six-of-10 from the field, including a pair of three-point buckets as USI outscored Saint Joseph's 47-40 in the final half.
 
After the Pumas cut the Eagles' advantage to six points, 60-54, in the first five minutes of the second half, USI methodically moved the lead to double-digits and never looked back, leading by as many as 20 points, 98-78, before settling for the 98-81 victory.
 
USI finished the game by shooting 59.3 percent from the field (35-59), 43.5 percent from three-point range, while forcing Saint Joseph's into 19 turnovers.
 
Individually, Drummond spearheaded the Eagles' offensive attack with a game-high 22 points. Freshman guard Alex Stein (Evansville, Indiana) followed Drummond in the scoring column with his second-straight 18-point game.
 
Taylor and junior forward T.J. Tisdell (Cape Girardeau, Missouri) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 16 points and 12 points, respectively. Drummond and senior forward George Edwards (Chicago, Illinois) each led the Eagles with five assists, while Edwards and sophomore center Davis Carter (Denver, Colorado) grabbed a team-high seven rebounds each.
 
The Eagles return to the road and travel to Missouri to play Drury University Thursday in Springfield and Missouri University of Science & Technology Saturday in Rolla. Tip-off for USI and Drury on Thursday is 7:45 p.m., while the start time for USI-Missouri S&T is slated for 3 p.m.