UMSL Falls to Second Ranked Southern Indiana

Rivermen Falter Late in First Half in Loss

St. Louis, Mo. – The UMSL men’s basketball team fell to second ranked Southern Indiana on Thursday night 95-80, as the depth of the Screaming Eagles eventually wore down the Rivermen.

UMSL got the first points of the game on a three-pointer by Kevin Nordmann (Webster Groves, Mo./Webster Groves) as the Rivermen mounted an early charge and led by as mandy as five points, 15-10, five minutes into the game. Later in the half, Justin Foust (St. Charles, Mo./St. Charles West) would hit a three pointer to tie the game up at 20-20, but Southern Indiana responded with a three pointer by Joe Gordon to retake the lead and never relinquished it the rest of the game. The Screaming Eagles would pull away late in the half, using a 12-1 run over a four-minute span to take control of the game and lead 48-35 at halftime.

In the second half, Southern Indiana used its depth to slowly build up the lead, going ahead by as many as 25 points, 77-52, with eight minutes remaining. The Rivermen would claw their way back in the closing minutes of the game, cutting the lead down to 13 points after a three pointer by Tim Blankenship (Cardwell, Mo./Senath-Hornersville), before UMSL eventually ran out of time and fell 95-80 to Southern Indiana.

UMSL was led by Ronnie Banks (Birmingham, Ala./Phillips) with 14 points, and Jonathan Griffin (St. Louis, Mo./Normandy) and Justin Foust with 13 points each. Southern Indiana was led by Randy Holbrook with a game high 29 points and 11 rebounds.

With the loss, UMSL falls to 3-4 overall and 1-2 in the GLVC while second ranked Southern Indiana improves to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the GLVC.