EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men's Basketball returned to .500 on the season with an impressive 91-56 victory over Shawnee State University Sunday afternoon at Liberty Arena. The Screaming Eagles are 5-5 overall this season, while the Bears are 3-6.
 
USI was slow out of the gate with Shawnee State jumping out to a 9-2 lead with two-and-a-half minutes gone in the game. The Eagles quickly erased the deficit with a 22-5 run to pull in front, 24-14, with 8:14 left in the half. Junior guards Jayland Randall and Braxton Jones had a combined 14 of 22 points to lead USI's surge with seven points each.
 
The Eagles would lead by as many as 18 points during the opening 20 minutes, 40-22, before settling for the 40-25 halftime advantage. Sophomore forward Stephen Olowoniyi was the first Eagle to reach double-digits in the game with 10 points, while Randall added nine in the opening half.
 
The second half saw USI expand its margin, growing the lead to as many as 37 points, 91-54, with a minute to play in the contest. The Eagles won the second half by an impressive 20 points, 51-31, and by shooting 55.9 percent (19-34) from the field.
 
USI ended the game with four in double-digits, led by the 18-point performance of Olowoniyi. The sophomore forward was eight-of-12 from the field and two-of-seven from the stripe, while grabbing a team-high seven rebounds.
 
Eagles' junior guard Damoni Harrison followed with 17 points on a blistering seven-of-eight from the field, two-of-two from downtown, and one-of-one from the line. Randall and Jones rounded out the double-digit scorers with 13 points each.
 
Next Up For USI:
USI continues its four-game homestand Thursday when it opens the 2024-25 Ohio Valley Conference schedule by hosting Tennessee State University. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. at Liberty Arena.
 
The Tigers of Tennessee State snapped a four-game losing streak with an 89-58 win over Johnson University Saturday, raising its record to 4-7 this year.
 
USI leads the series with TSU, 5-4, but lost last season's set of games, 2-1. The Eagles won the first meeting at Liberty Arena, 69-67, but lost to the Tigers, 79-74, in Nashville, Tennessee, and 78-64 at the Ford Center in the OVC Championship opening round.
 
The homestand of OVC games continues December 21 when the University of Tennessee at Martin visits for a 3:30 p.m. contest and concludes New Year's Eve against Morehead State University at 7:30 p.m.