EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men's Basketball missed a last-second shot and struggled at the free throw line in losing a heartbreaker to Tennessee State, 73-71, Thursday night at Liberty Arena. The Screaming Eagles go to 5-20 overall and 2-13 in the OVC, while the Tigers are 17-8, 11-4 OVC.
 
USI hit the first bucket of the game and rolled out to a 10-2 lead before four minutes were gone in the game. The Eagles hit three of their first six shots and were led by senior guard Ismail Habib, who had five of those first 10 points.
 
TSU put together a rally of its own to tie the score, 17-17, with 9:49 on the first half clock before USI put together a 10-2 surge to re-extend the lead to five points, 27-20, after a back-to-back buckets by senior guard Cardell Bailey.
 
The USI lead shrank back to three, 27-24, before another Screaming Eagles rush propelled the margin to a first-half high 13 points, 37-24, following a 10-0 run that saw Bailey and sophomore guard Josiah Dunham combine for eight of the 10 points with four each.  
 
Following a pair of buckets by TSU before the buzzer, USI took a 37-29 lead into the intermission. Bailey would be the first Screaming Eagle to reach double-digits with a team-best 12 points in the opening 20 minutes.
 
The final 20 minutes started in favor of TSU as the Tigers erased USI's eight-point halftime lead and jumped in front, 46-45, with 14:41 remaining. Control of the lead would shift back and forth for the next 14 minutes, featuring 10 lead changes and seven ties, until TSU grabbed the lead for good, 73-71, with 1:16 to play.
 
USI would miss a chance to tie with 37 seconds left and had one more opportunity in the final six seconds, but USI could not convert, falling, 73-71. The Achilles heel for the Screaming Eagles in the loss was going 15-of-34 from the stripe as a team.
 
In the box score, Bailey led USI with a season-high and game-high 25 points. The senior guard was 10-of-18 from the field, including a three-pointer, and four-of-five from the line. Habib rounded out the double-digit scorers with 13 points.
 
Next Up For USI:
The Screaming Eagles will celebrate Senior Day in Saturday when they host Tennessee Tech. The game time has been moved to a 4 p.m. tipoff due to the women's basketball being aired on ESPNU. USI also encourages its fans to wear red for a special "Red Out" game.
 
Tennessee Tech saw its record go to 10-16 overall and 5-10 in the OVC after falling, 73-66, at Morehead State on the road this evening. TTU has lost its last two games but won three of its last five games.
 
TTU leads the all-time series with USI, 5-2, after the Screaming Eagles won in Cookeville, Tennessee, in January, 71-54. The teams have split the last four meetings.