HUNTINGTON, W.V. – University of Southern Indiana Men's Basketball rallied in the second half but fell short at Marshall University, 77-63, Monday evening in Huntington, West Virginia. The Screaming Eagles are 0-3 to start the year, while the Herd go to 2-1 in 2024-25.
USI's junior guard
Damoni Harrison picked up the first bucket of the game before Marshall scored eight-straight points to lead, 8-2, early. The Eagles would close the gap and get to within one, 11-10, with 13:23 left in the half on a pair of free throws by junior guard
Sam Kodi.
Marshall pushed the margin back to seven points, 20-13, on a 9-3 burst with 8:37 on the first half clock. The Herd would continue to limit the Eagles' offense, allowing only two USI free throws, while building a 30-15 advantage with 3:30 left in the opening half and a 38-19 margin at the intermission.
USI's offense was stymied in the first 20 minutes as the Eagles were held to 26.3 percent from the field (5-19).
In the second half, Marshall quickly extended the margin to 21 points three times before USI's offense began to roll. The Eagles cut the deficit to nine points, 45-39, on a 15-3 run that was led by sophomore forward
Stephen Olowoniyi, who had six points during the surge.
The Herd re-extended their lead to double-digits quickly, reaching 14 points six times in the last five minutes. The Eagles were able to stay close, getting to within nine points twice more, but could not get any closer down the stretch.
Individually, Harrison led three Eagles in double-digits with 20 points. He was seven-of-13 from the field, three-of-three from long range, and three-of-four from the stripe.
Kodi came off the bench to post 16 points, while Olowoniyi had 10 points and a team-time 11 rebounds for his first career double-double. Kodi was five-of-10 from the field and six-of-eight from the line.
Next Up For USI:
USI concludes the I-64 Showcase Wednesday when it renews an old rivalry with Bellarmine University at Knights Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. Wednesday's game will be the first meeting between the Eagles and the Knights since Bellarmine left the Great Lakes Valley Conference in 2020 and the first since USI reclassified to NCAA Division I.
Bellarmine is 0-2 to start the 2024-25 campaign, losing to Virginia Commonwealth University, 84-65, and Virginia Military Institute, 76-71.
USI and Bellarmine have a long history of rivalry, dating back to 1970, when they were founding members of the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Eagles had the advantage in the series, 53-46, in NCAA Division II play, but the Knights had the upper hand, 9-3, before moving to Division I.
The road trip ends Saturday when USI visits another former GLVC-rival, Purdue University Fort Wayne. The Eagles return to the friendly home surroundings of Liberty Arena November 22 when they host the University of South Dakota.
