Finishing off their three-game homestead, the USI men’s basketball team hosted East-West University, a Division II team out of Chicago, Illinois, in Liberty Arena, Home of the Screaming Eagles.
The game started slow, as the two teams were tied with five apiece five minutes into the game. It remained a tight race until Jared Washington, junior guard, went up for a layup, putting the Screaming Eagles up by two with a little over 13 minutes remaining in the first half. This bucket started an 11-0 run for USI, making the score 21-10.
The run was disrupted, but not destroyed, with a jumper from the East-West University Phantoms. USI’s Josiah Dunham, freshman guard, responded to the next play with one beyond the arc.
With five minutes remaining before halftime, USI’s Stephen Olowoniyi, sophomore forward, put the Screaming Eagles up by 21 after a made free throw off a fast break. Olowoniyi led USI in scoring with 17 points for the night. Close behind him, with 15 each, were Washington and Braxton Jones, junior guard.
USI stayed on top at the end of the first half, with the score being 53-25.
Damoni Harrison, junior guard, set the tone for the second half with a three-pointer only 30 seconds into gameplay. Continuing the energy was Olowoniyi with two fast breaks resulting in two dunks, both within a minute of each other.
Three minutes into the second half, USI found themselves ahead by 33, putting the score at 60-27. Shortly after, Washington made a statement with nine consecutive points. With about nine minutes to play, Stan Gouard, men’s basketball head coach, subbed in most of the reserves, including key players from last year’s squad: Sam Mervis, senior guard, and Ryan Hall, junior guard.
With just under two minutes remaining, Hall popped a three, giving USI their biggest lead of the night, an advantage of 61. Without a doubt, USI took this one home. The final score was 104-46.
This was a classic tune-up game, as USI was leaps and bounds ahead of their opponent, the Phantoms. The game primarily served the purpose of Gouard getting different lineups and rotations into play and allowing players coming back from injury, like Jones and Alex Horiuk, junior center, to get crucial game time to build confidence and form. Jones looked confident this game, hitting four three-pointers on 80% shooting. Horiuk was also a dominant presence and looks more and more confident as he gets minutes.
After a little over a week of playing at home, the men’s basketball team hits the road again. They will play Southern Illinois University at 2 p.m.Saturday — a crucial game to get a positive winning record.