In the first round of the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Tournament that took place Feb. 26, the USI men’s basketball team defeated Maryville University. USI, who took fifth seed in the GLVC tournament, defeated 12th seed Maryville 68-51.
Getting off to a slow start, scoring 23 points in the first half, USI relied on its defense to hold Maryville to 16 points in the first half. But at the start of the second half The Saints attacked the basket and eventually overtook the lead.
“(Maryville) is the type of team that is going to play 40 minutes whether they’re up or down, so they really tested us,” senior forward Isaac McClure said. “At points in the game we didn’t play as good of defense as we were supposed to, but at the end of the day we pulled it off.”
Quickly taking on the offensive to retain the lead, the Eagles went on a 15-0 point run that gave them the control of the game for the rest of the night. Off the bench, freshman forward/guard Austin Davis made a run of eight-straight points that monumental in the Eagles victory.
“Teammates did a great job finding me the ball, and I was able to knock down a few shots,” Davis said. “Coming off the bench, they knocked down three threes, and I knew we had to do something with the defense. We needed to get it going defensively, and the offense will take care of itself.”
The win ended the Eagles two game losing streak that took away its chances of getting a bye in the first round of the tournament. The remainder of the tournament takes place at the Prairie Capital Convention Center in Springfield, Ill., during March 2-4.
In a loser-goes-home style tournament, USI has to take on and defeat its next opponent, fourth seed University of Indianapolis (UIndy), if the team wants to advance further into the weekend. This will be the third showdown between the Eagles and the Greyhounds this season.
“We have to be able to handle Indianapolis’ physical play,” USI’s head basketball coach Rodney Watson said. “We have to be able to score against their physical defense, and we have to be able to get to their shooters, and we have to play super tough because they are very physical and very rugged.”
UIndy has grounded the Eagles in its last two meetings this season, defeating USI in the PAC 59-56, and at its home 65-59. USI tips-off against UIndy at 8:30 p.m. Friday at the Prairie Capital Convention Center in Springfield, Ill.
“(UIndy) beat us in two games, and we want to return the favor,” Hogg said. “What’s better than the loser-goes-home situation, so whoever loses this game is out, so it’s going to be even that much better.”