EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The 15th-ranked University of Southern Indiana men's basketball team cruised to a 71-58 victory over the University of Missouri-St. Louis Thursday evening in St. Louis, Missouri. USI sees its record go to 22-2 overall and 12-2 in the GLVC, while UMSL goes to 10-14 overall, 4-10 GLVC.   
 
The win also keeps USI in sole possession of second in the GLVC East Division, a game ahead of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside and Lewis University and a game back of division front-running and eighth-ranked Bellarmine University. USI, which has reached 22-or-more wins in a season for the 23rd time, has five games remaining in the 2016-17 regular season, including a season-finale match-up at Bellarmine on February 23.
 
The Screaming Eagles methodically pulled away from the Tritons in the opening 20 minutes, building a pair of seven point leads before finishing the first half on a 15-6 run and posting a 40-26 intermission margin. The 14-point halftime lead was the largest margin of the half for the Eagles.
 
Senior guard/forward Jeril Taylor (Louisville, Kentucky) was on fire in the opening half, leading the way with 15 points. He was five-of-eight from the field during the first half, including a perfect four-of-four from beyond the three-point arc.
 
In the second half, the Eagles quickly extended the lead to 20 points, 50-30, with 17:07 remaining in the game. The Tritons would rally to cut the Eagles' advantage to 12 points, 53-41, before USI used a 16-6 surge to post its largest margin of the game, 69-45, with 5:51 left on the clock.
 
USI would add one more bucket in the final five minutes as it ran out the clock on the 71-58 victory.
 
Individually, Taylor would add three second half points and finish with a game-high 18 points. The senior guard, who needs 16 points to reach 1,000 in his two-year career at USI, was six-of-13 from the field and five-of-eight from long range.
 
Senior guard Cortez Macklin (Louisville, Kentucky) followed Taylor in the scoring column with 14 points. Macklin led USI in the second half with 11 points on four-of-four from the field and three-of-three from beyond the arc.
 
The Eagles conclude their final weekend road swing Saturday when they visit Maryville University February 11 at 3:15 p.m. in St. Louis. Maryville saw its record fall to 8-18 and 2-12 in the GLVC after losing to seventh-ranked Bellarmine University tonight, 79-64.
 
USI leads the all-time series with Maryville, 8-2, and on the road, 2-0. The Saints, however, have won the last two meetings, including last year's match-up, 89-80, at the Physical Activities Center.
 
Following Saturday's action, the Eagles return to the PAC for their final regular season home games of 2016-17. The final home games are February 16 versus the University of Illinois Springfield and February 18 versus McKendree University. The USI-McKendree match-up will be Senior Day for the Eagles.