Rivera posts his 1st career double-double
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – University of Southern Indiana Men's Basketball reached 20-wins for the third-straight season with a 93-83 victory over University of Illinois Springfield Thursday evening in Springfield, Illinois. The Screaming Eagles rise to 20-7 overall and 12-5 in the GLVC, while the Prairie Stars go to 14-13, 7-10 GLVC.
USI owned the first seven minutes of the first half, posting a trio of seven point leads (12-5, 17-10, 19-12). Illinois Springfield rallied with a 10-2 run to take a 22-21 lead with 8:43 remaining until halftime.
After five lead changes in the next two minutes, the Eagles outscored the Stars, 19-11, over the final seven minutes of the opening half to lead at the break, 45-38. USI senior guard
Alex Stein (Evansville, Indiana) led the Eagles during the run to halftime with six of his 13 first half points. Sophomore forward
Emmanuel Little (Indianapolis) also had six of the Eagles' points during the run up to halftime and joined Stein in double-digits with 10 opening stanza points.
The Stars opened the second half by knotting the game at 47-47 in the first four minutes after halftime. USI sophomore guard
Mateo Rivera (Indianapolis, Indiana) and Little combined on an 8-0 run to get the Eagles' offense on track and ignite a 24-9 run that posted a 15-point lead, 71-56.
Illinois Springfield slowly chipped away at the USI lead until it was within six points, 89-83, with 1:08 to play. USI senior forward
Jacob Norman (Evansville, Indiana) sealed the victory with a pair of thunderous dunks for the 93-83 final.
As a team, USI shot 52.5 percent from the field (32-61), 45.5 percent from long range (10-22), and 86.4 percent from the stripe (19-22). The Eagles also won the battle on the glass, 37-25.
Little led five Eagles in double-digits with 22 points before fouling out, hitting eight-of-16 from the field and six-of-six from the stripe. Stein followed with 21 points on six-of-13 from the field, four-of-seven from the beyond the arc, and five-of-five from the line.
Senior guard/forward
Nate Hansen (Evansville, Indiana) was third with 14 points on a blistering five-of-eight from the field and four-of-seven from downtown. Junior guard/forward
Kobe Caldwell (Bowling Green, Kentucky) and Rivera rounded out the double-double digit scorers with 12 points each. Rivera also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds for his first career double-double.
The Eagles conclude the 2018-19 regular season Saturday at 3 p.m. when they visit McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois. McKendree saw its record go to 9-16 overall and 5-11 GLVC after falling to Bellarmine University, 75-48, at home this evening.
USI held off a late rally by McKendree to win 100-95 in the first meeting at the PAC earlier this month. Stein led the Eagles with 26 points, while Caldwell followed with 21 points. The Eagles lead the all-time series with the Bearcats, 11-7 overall and 9-1 in GLVC, since the start of the series in 1970-71 and McKendree's entrance into the GLVC in 2012-13. The series is tied 4-4 in games played in Lebanon, Illinois.
