KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Eighth-ranked Southern Indiana sailed by Rockhurst 86-68 to open Great Lakes Valley Conference action Friday evening in. USI rises to 9-0 overall and 1-0 in the GLVC, while Rockhurst goes to 4-5, 0-2 GLVC.
The Screaming Eagles flew out of the gate with a 7-0 run and rushed out to a 12-point lead, 18-6, with 11:59 left before halftime. Rockhurst, however, would go on a 19-7 run of its own to knot the game up at 25-25 with 7:51 remaining in the first half. The 25-25 score was the only tie of the game and the Eagles would never trail.
After the Hawks tied the score, USI's offense regained its stride and used an 11-0 run to build a new lead of 36-25 with 3:42 left before the intermission. Rockhurst was able to close the gap to seven-points before halftime, 39-32, by scoring seven of the last 10 points of the half.
The second half began with the Eagles doubling the halftime lead in the first six minutes to 15 points, 51-36. USI would seal the game with 9:24 to play by pushing the margin to 21 points, 63-42. The lead would be extended to as many as 23 points twice in the final three minutes before the Eagles settled for the 18-point 86-68 win.
USI senior forward Orlando Rutledge led four Eagles to reach double-digits with 17 points, hitting four-of-11 from the field and nine-of-12 from the line. Senior forward Aaron Nelson followed with 15 points and 15 rebounds, setting a USI record with his ninth-consecutive double-double.
Rutledge and Nelson were followed in the scoring column by junior guard Gavin Schumann, who had 11 points, and senior guard Lawrence Thomas, who dropped in 10 points.
As a team, the Eagles shot 46.2 percent from the field (30-65), 35.6 percent from long range (5-14), and 70 percent from the stripe (21-30). They also outrebounded Rockhurst, 50-29.
No. 3 Drury St. Joseph's (Ind.)
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Cameron Adams led four Panthers in double-figures with 22 points and nationally third-ranked Drury prepped for a showdown with a trio of top-10 teams by downing St. Joseph's (Ind.) 80-66 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play Friday night at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
The Panthers moved to 10-0 overall and 2-0 in the GLVC with their 33rd consecutive victory heading into a three-game stretch of showdowns.
Adams, in topping the 20-point barrier for the third consecutive game, was supported by 16 points and eight assists from Kameron Bundy, 15 points and seven rebounds from Ian Carter and 13 points and seven boards from Drake Patterson.
