NASHVILLE, Tenn. – University of Southern Indiana Men's Basketball rallied, but lost a tough one to Tennessee State University, 79-74, Saturday afternoon in Nashville, Tennessee. The Screaming Eagles fall to 6-17 overall and 3-7 in OVC play, while the Tigers are 13-10 overall, 6-4 OVC.
 
The Eagles started fast, building a 10-5 advantage after sophomore guard AJ Smith (Edwardsville, Illinois) got the game's first points on a thunderous slam. USI and TSU would trade buckets until 6:35 remaining in the half when the Eagles reached a six-point lead, 27-21, on a three-point bomb by junior forward Jack Mielke (Downers Grove, Illinois).
 
USI matched the six-point advantage, 31-25, with 3:50 left in the opening 20 minutes on a bucket by sophomore guard Ryan Hall (Kettering, Ohio). The lead would reach six points on last time, 37-31, before USI, which led the first half on the glass, 23-9, settled for the 38-36 lead at the intermission. Junior guard Jeremiah Hernandez (Chicago, Illinois) was the only player in double-digits by halftime with 13 points.
 
The lead would swing back and forth through the opening minutes of the second half until TSU build a seven-point advantage, 53-46, with 13:16 left. TSU extended the lead to as many as 10, 65-55, when USI made a run at the Tigers.
 
The Eagles rallied to close to within one, 74-73, with 2:18 on the clock due to an 18-9 run, led by Mielke, who had back-to-back-to-back three-point bombs. TSU would finish out the game with a 5-1 spurt, hitting five-of-six from the stripe, to end the 79-74 decision.
 
In the scoring column for the Eagles, Hernandez led the USI scorers with a game-high 23 points. The 23-points was Hernandez's 10^th-straight game in double-digits, six with 20-or-more points.
 
Mielke followed with 14 points, including four three-point field goals, while Smith rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points.
 
Next Up For USI:
USI comes home to the friendly surroundings of Screaming Eagles Arena for Homecoming and a pair of OVC games. The Eagles are scheduled to host Eastern Illinois University Thursday and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville for the Homecoming game Saturday. Both games are scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. tip off.
 
EIU, which is 10-13, 4-6 OVC, completed this week's action with a 71-47 loss to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock this afternoon in Charleston, Illinois. The Panthers have lost three-straight after today's action.
 
USI leads the all-time series with EIU, 3-2, after the teams split the conference series last season. EIU took the opening game, 91-80, in Charleston, but USI bounced back to win at Screaming Eagles Arena, 78-74.
 
SIUE is 13-10 overall and 6-4 in the OVC after dropping a 90-79 decision to the University of Tennessee at Martin in Edwardsville today. The Cougars have won two of their last three after today's action.
 
The Eagles lead the all-time series with the Cougars, 45-23, but trails 3-1 since joining the OVC. SIUE took the first meeting of 2023-24 in Edwardsville, 67-64, in a very close contest. USI sophomore guard/forward AJ Smith led the Eagles in the loss with a double-double, 20 points and 12 rebounds.
 
Fans can find all the ways to follow USI Basketball action by visiting USIScreamingEagles.com