SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The University of Southern Indiana men's basketball broke down in the second half and lost a 75-62 decision to Drury University Thursday evening in Springfield, Missouri. USI watched its record go to 14-8 overall and 6-6 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, while Drury went to 13-7, 8-4 GLVC.
 
The Screaming Eagles jumped out to a 10-4 lead after five minutes were gone and would lead for over 18 minutes in the opening half. The Panthers, however, used a 9-3 run in the final 4:23 of the first half and led 28-25 at the intermission.
 
The key to the late first-half surge by the Panther was cold shooting by the Eagles during the Drury run. USI, which shot only 32 percent in the opening half (8-25), was only one-of-five from the field and committed five turnovers in the run up to halftime.
 
USI's only shooter to find field goal range during the opening half was senior forward George Edwards (Chicago, Illinois). Edwards was four-of-five from the field and had a team-high eight points when the buzzer sounded to end the first half.
 
The Eagles rushed out of the locker room and quickly retook the lead with a 5-0 run, 30-28, before 45 seconds were gone in the second half. USI and Drury would battle up and down the court for the next seven minutes until the Panthers took command with a 7-0 run and led 47-40 with 12:28 to go in the contest.
 
Drury extended its lead to 11 points, 56-45, with 8:41 left when USI mounted a comeback attempt. The Eagles worked their way back to within striking distance at 60-56 with 6:10 on the clock, but the Panthers used an 11-0 run to put the game out of reach in the final minutes of the 75-62 victory.
 
USI, as a team, shot better in the second half, connecting on 53.8 percent of its shots (14-26), but Drury had the better second half by shooting 69.6 percent (16-23). The Panthers also forced the Eagles into 18 turnovers.
 
Individually for the game, USI was led by the 15-point effort of junior guard Bobo Drummond (Peoria, Illinois). Drummond continued to have the hot hand from long range, hitting four three-point field goals.
 
Eagles' senior forward Shane Seniour (Newburgh, Indiana) followed Drummond in the scoring column with 12 points, while junior guard Jeril Taylor (Louisville, Kentucky) and Edwards rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points each.
 
The Eagles conclude the road swing Saturday at 3 p.m. when they visit the Miners of Missouri University of Science & Technology. The Miners went to 8-13 overall and 4-8 in the GLVC after falling to #9 (NABC)/#7 (D2SIDA) Bellarmine University, 85-61, at home tonight in Rolla, Missouri.
 
USI leads the all-time series with Missouri University of Science & Technology, 13-3, and has a 4-0 advantage in the games in Rolla since 2000. The Eagles took the only meeting last year at Missouri S&T, 84-58.
 
Live coverage of the Saturday's match-up is available at GoUSIEagles.com.