EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Southern Indiana men's basketball team saw its five-game winning streak over William Jewell College stopped with a 94-81 loss Thursday evening in Liberty, Missouri. USI saw its overall record slide to 19-8, 10-5 in the GLVC, while William Jewell goes to 19-6 overall, 9-6 GLVC.
 
The first 20 minutes were a half of runs as the Screaming Eagles and the Cardinals traded leads of seven and eight points, respectively. USI posted its seven-point lead after an 11-0 run, 22-15, while William Jewell completed a 17-4 run to lead 38-30 during the opening stanza.
 
The Cardinals scored the final three points before the intermission to take a 42-37 lead into the break.
 
USI junior guard/forward Nate Hansen (Evansville, Indiana) led the Eagles during the first half with 12 points, hitting double-digits for the first time in seven contest. He was five-of-11 overall, two-of-five from downtown, to start the contest.
 
The Eagles flew out of the locker room to start the second half, erasing the halftime deficit and posting a 44-42 lead before two minutes were gone in the final stanza. The lead, however, was be the last for USI as William Jewell would explode on a 13-3 run to take command of the game the rest of the way. USI could get no closer than 12 points in the final 12 minutes of the contest in William Jewell's first win over the Eagles.
 
Individually, Hansen added six points to his total in the second half and finished with a team-high 18 points. The junior guard/forward also had a team-high five assists, tying a season-high.
 
Hansen was followed in the scoring column by senior forward DayJar Dickson (Washington, D.C.), who scored 15 of his 17 points during the second half. Dickson also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
 
USI junior guard Alex Stein (Evansville, Indiana) and freshman forward Emmanuel Little (Indianapolis, Indiana) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 15 points and 11 points, respectively.
 
The Eagles finishes the first half of the four-game road swing Saturday when they visit Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri, for a 3 p.m. match-up. The Hawks watched its overall record drop below .500 at 12-13, 5-10 GLVC, after falling to seventh-ranked Bellarmine University, 87-64, tonight at home.
 
USI is 17-1 versus Rockhurst since the series started in 2006, 14-1 in GLVC play. The Eagles, who are 7-1 on the road versus the Hawks, took last year's meeting at the PAC, 98-77, led by the 27-points of guard Jeril Taylor and five USI players in double-digits.
 
USI NOTE: USI announced that senior forward Julius Rajala (Helsinki, Finland) (8.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game) will miss this weekend's games due to a violation of team rules.
 
"Julius made an error in judgment and has taken responsibility for his actions," said USI Head Coach Rodney Watson. "We plan on him rejoining the team next week."