LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The University of Southern Indiana men's basketball team went down to the buzzer with 12^th-ranked West Texas A&M University before falling 65-62 Monday afternoon in the Rollins University Las Vegas Classic in Las Vegas, Nevada. USI, which saw its winning streak stopped at seven, watched its record fall to 8-3 overall, while West Texas A&M goes to 10-1 in 2017-18.
 
The Eagles and the Buffaloes were slow out of the gate in the first half, scoring a combined eight points through the first four minutes and shooting a combined 3-of-14 from the field. West Texas A&M controlled the final 10 minutes of the half, building a nine-point lead three times before going into the intermission with a 34-25 margin.
 
USI bounced back in the second half and used a 13-4 run to knot the contest at 44-44 with 11:57 to play. West Texas A&M responded with an 11-0 run of its own with 6:31 remaining to take its largest lead of the game, 55-44.
 
The final run by the Eagles saw them shrink the deficit to one point, 57-56, on a jumper by junior guard Alex Stein (Evansville, Indiana) with 3:28 left on the clock. USI would close to within one point twice more in the final minute, but was unable to regain the lead in falling 65-62.
 
Stein lead all Eagles in the scoring column with a game-high 19 points, 12 coming in the second half. The junior guard was eight-of-17 from the field and three-of-three from the charity stripe.
 
Junior guard/forward Nate Hansen (Evansville, Indiana) followed with 13 points, while senior forward DayJar Dickson (Washington, D.C.) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points. Dickson also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds in the contest.
 
As a team, USI was outrebounded for the first time this season, 41-34, and shot 43.3 percent from the field (26-60). The Eagles improved their shooting in the second half, hitting 51.6 percent from the field (16-31), compared to 34.5 percent in the opening half (10-29).  
 
USI will try to bounce back Tuesday at 4 p.m. when it concludes the Rollins Las Vegas Classic Tuesday against Midwestern State University. Live coverage is available on GoUSIEagles.com.
 
Midwestern State rallied to defeat Rollins in the classic opener, 81-79, and goes to 3-8 overall. The comeback win broke the Mustangs' five-game losing streak.
 
USI lost its only meeting with Midwestern State in the 2015 Bill Joergens Memorial Classic, 86-58. Guard Jeril Taylor led USI in the loss to the fifth-ranked Mustangs with 15 points. Stein also had 13 points as a freshman versus the Mustangs.
 
USI will finish the 2017 calendar year by starting a three-game homestand December 30-31, including a shortened Bill Joergens Classic. The Eagles are slated to host Lake Superior State University December 30 at 1 p.m. and Ohio Valley University December 31 at 1 p.m.
 
The final game of the three-game homestand is January 4 when USI re-starts Great Lakes Valley Conference action by hosting the University of Missouri-St. Louis at the PAC.