USI Soars Past UMSL 78-51

Rivermen Fall to 9th-Ranked Screaming Eagles

St. Louis, Mo. – The UM-St. Louis men’s basketball team ran into a hot Southern Indiana team, and lost 78-51 to the Screaming Eagles in the final home game of the season for UMSL. The Rivermen led early in the game, but couldn’t hold the lead as ninth-ranked USI used a couple of big runs in the first half to take the lead and never looked back.

UMSL controlled the tempo in the opening minutes, and led 7-2 after a three pointer by Joey Paul (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park) just five minutes into the game. Southern Indiana then fought back took a short lead at 10-9, but the Rivermen came back with a layup from David Ward (Maryland Heights, Mo./DeSmet) to retake the lead at 11-10. From there, Southern Indiana went on a 9-2 run and lead by six points at 19-13 with 8:14 remaining. After a bucket by UMSL, the Screaming Eagles then used another big run, outscoring the Rivermen 11-3 over the next eight minutes and led 40-29 at halftime. In the second half, Southern Indiana opened up with a 14-3 run to take control and the Screaming Eagles cruised from there for the 78-51 win.

The Rivermen were led by Jonathan Griffin (St. Louis, Mo./Normandy) with 14 points and David Ward had 13 points off the bench. UMSL is now 8-17 on the season and 4-14 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference while Southern Indiana improves to 21-4 overall and 16-2 in the GLVC. The Rivermen will finish the regular season on the road next week with games at Bellarmine on Thursday and at Northern Kentucky on Saturday.