The USI Men’s Basketball team took on the Eastern Illinois Panthers shortly after the women’s basketball game, looking to get a much-needed Ohio Valley Conference win. However, in the first half, the Screaming Eagles played a rough half, shooting 25% from the field and 16.7% from deep. Despite the poor shooting, Eastern Illinois was not much better, shooting 31% from the field and missing all six of their shots from beyond the arc. For Southern Indiana, Amaree Brown, junior guard, was the best of the bunch. In the first half of play, Brown scored eight points. Alongside Brown, Steven Clay, senior guard, Ola Ajiboye, senior forward and Tolu Samuels, junior forward, contributed 12 points.
Despite scoring being hard to come by, Southern Indiana entered halftime up ahead with a score of 27-23. While the Screaming Eagles shot more inefficiently than Eastern Illinois, they were better in the margins, scoring six more points off turnovers and eight more second-chance points. To secure victory, a better performance in the second half was needed.
In the second half, the Screaming Eagles played slightly better, as Brown continued his scoring effort. Brown contributed five of USI’s first nine second-half points. Ismail Habib, senior guard, had a rough first half, scoring only three points, but he had a considerably better second half. As the game swung back and forth, Habib scored 10 points and dished out three assists to keep Southern Indiana afloat.
In the last two minutes, Habib scored a layup and a free throw, giving the Screaming Eagles a two-point lead. However, the Eastern Illinois Panthers eventually knotted up the game at 50-50 with 17 seconds to go, prompting USI’s Head Coach Stan Gouard to call a timeout.
Out of the timeout, the Screaming Eagles went to Habib for an isolated drive to the basket, but he missed, sending the game to overtime. In overtime, the Screaming Eagles ran out of gas, scoring one point off a free throw from Brown, ultimately falling short to the Eastern Illinois Panthers by a score of 59-51.
Despite the scoring efforts from Brown and Habib, both had dreadful shooting performances, shooting a combined 21% from the field and 5.8% from beyond the arc. If there is any consolation, Brown was aggressive, getting to the free-throw line 12 times, converting 10 of them.
The Screaming Eagles as a whole shot 24.6% from the field and 14.3% from three. Even with the bad shooting night, they almost grabbed the win. If I’m being honest, it probably leaves more questions regarding the Eastern Illinois Men’s Basketball team. Regardless, it is a slightly positive trend for the USI Men’s Basketball team because it shows that the team could almost overcome a rough shooting performance.
