Thursday night's GLVC men's basketball action ended with a number of top headlines, including No. 11 Southern Indiana's 75-72 upset over top-ranked Bellarmine. Despite the loss, the Knights clinched at least a share of the East Division title. With Missouri-St. Louis' 58-56 victory over Quincy and Illinois-Springfield's 81-74 loss to Maryville, UMSL clinched at least a share of the West Division title. In addition, Drury clinched a GLVC Tournament bid after rallying to beat William Jewell in double-overtime, 88-84. Another conference contest went to overtime Thursday, with Missouri S&T topping Rockhurst 73-72 in OT.
No. 11 SOUTHERN INDIANA 75, No. 1 BELLARMINE 72 - BOX SCORE | BU RECAP | USI RECAP
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - No. 11 Southern Indiana overcame 16-point first half deficits to knock off top-ranked Bellarmine, 75-72, Thursday night. USI improved to 20-4 overall and 12-4 in the GLVC, while Bellarmine dropped to 22-2, 14-2 GLVC. The victory over a number one ranked team in the country is the first for the Screaming Eagles since the 2004 Elite Eight semifinals when USI defeated Metropolitan State University, 83-81. USI did defeat second-ranked Kentucky Wesleyan College in January, one day before the Panthers rose to the top spot in the country. Brandon Hogg and Isaac McClure celebrated Senior Day as the top two scorers for the Eagles. Hogg finished the game with a game-high 23 points, nine rebounds and three assists, while McClure finished with his third double-double of the year with 15 points and 10 rebounds. The Knights, who saw their school-record 17-game winning streak snapped, were led by Braydon Hobbs' season-high 20 points. Keisten Jones (16), Chris Dowe (14) and Jeremy Kendle (13) also scored in double figures for BU.
No. 16 NORTHERN KY. 67, No. 12 KY. WESLEYAN 55 - BOX SCORE | NKU RECAP | KWC RECAP
OWENSBORO, Ky. - Eshaunte Jones scored 15 points as No. 15 Northern Kentucky posted a 67-55 win over No. 12 Kentucky Wesleyan Thursday. Chad Jackson and DeAndre Nealy each added 11 points for the Norse, who won their fifth straight game and improved to 20-4 overall, 12-4 in the GLVC. Anthony Young scored 28 points to lead Kentucky Wesleyan, which dropped to 19-5 overall and 11-5 in the GLVC. Brandon Johnson added 14 points for the Panthers, who defeated NKU by 17 points (74-57) last month.
No. 25 INDIANAPOLIS 73, LEWIS 64 - BOX SCORE | LU RECAP | UINDY RECAP
INDIANAPOLIS - Seniors Adrian Moss and Wilbur O'Neal helped ignite a huge second half for No. 25 UIndy to defeat Lewis, 73-64, in front of 1,483 at Nicoson Hall on Senior Night. Moss had 18 points, 10 assists, five rebounds and two steals, while O'Neal chipped in 11 points, nine rebounds and career-high three blocks for the Greyhounds (17-7, 10-6 GLVC). Reserve forward Leland Brown scored 13 of his career-high 15 points in the second half and tied his career high with seven rebounds against the Flyers (14-10, 6-10). Reece Cheatham added 11 points to give the Greyhounds four double figure scorers as they ended a three-game home losing streak to the Flyers. Lewis was led by Chris McClellan with 17 points, eight fewer than he scored in the first meeting, and Nick Valla off the bench with 15 points.
MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS 58, QUINCY 56 - BOX SCORE | QU RECAP | UMSL RECAP
ST. LOUIS - Senior Troy Long connected on a short baseline jumper with 0.3 seconds to play to lift Missouri-St. Louis to a 58-56 victory over Quincy in a pivotal GLVC West Division contest Thursday night at the Mark Twain Building. With the win, UMSL improved to 17-7 overall, including 12-4 in the league, but most importantly clinched at least a share of the West Division title. The UMSL win, coupled with an Illinois-Springfield loss at Maryville on Thursday, puts the Tritons up two games in West Division standings over both the Hawks and the Prairie Stars. UMSL could win the title outright Saturday when it travels to Illinois-Springfield in a 3 p.m. contest. Long, who ranks second in scoring in GLVC-only games, was held to just nine points on five field goal attempts, while junior Joshua McCoy led UMSL with 18 points and also collected four steals. Quincy (17-7, 10-6) was paced by Justin Brock’s 21 points and 12 rebounds.
MARYVILLE 81, ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD 74 - BOX SCORE | UIS RECAP | MU RECAP
ST. LOUIS - Illinois Springfield had five players in double figures but couldn't overcome Maryville's duo of Armon Provo and Gerald Shaw as the Saints beat the Prairie Stars 81-74 Thursday evening at Moloney Arena. The win moved Maryville to 13-11 overall and 6-10 in the GLVC while UIS fell to 13-12 and 10-6. Maryville's Provo tossed in a game-high 30 points while Shaw added 21 to offset the balance of UIS. The Prairie Stars got 16 points from Kyle Gupton, 14 each from Lester Hart and West Dawson, 11 from Michael Fakuade and 10 from Jermaine Love-Roberts. Fakuade also added a game-high 11 rebounds for his league-leading 13th double-double of the season.
DRURY 88, WILLIAM JEWELL 84 (2OT) - BOX SCORE | DU RECAP | WJC RECAP
LIBERTY, Mo. - Alex Hall scored a season-high 28 points, including a half-court 3-pointer at the buzzer to force a second overtime, as Drury outlasted William Jewell 88-84 in two overtimes in a GLVC thriller Thursday night at the Mabee Center. Hall, who played a career-best 49 minutes, also grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds, second only to the 11 boards and 19 points from Ian Carter. Cameron Adams added seven boards in 41 minutes of action, one of four Panthers to log more than 40 minutes in the contest. Drake Patterson added 11 points, including three 3-pointers, and Brandon Lockhart had 10 points in 48 minutes of court time. Jewell fell to 7-15 overall and 4-12 in a marathon that saw them keep Drury from grabbing its first lead of the game until 1:20 was remaining in regulation. Nick Larson finished with 21 points and nine rebounds to lead five Cardinals in double-figures as Drury moved its lead in the all-time series with their long-time rival to 32-29 with the season sweep.
SAINT JOSEPH'S 76, WISCONSIN-PARKSIDE 74 - BOX SCORE | UWP RECAP | SJC RECAP
RENNSELAER, Ind. - Damon Ellison Jr.'s lay-up with 49 seconds left proved to be the game-winner as Saint Joseph's College claimed a 76-74 victory over UW-Parkside on Thursday night. The Rangers came from 14 points down to take the lead on three occasions in the final 3:47 but were unable to take the win. Phillip Collins finished with a team-high 19 points for SJC (8-16, 3-13 GLVC), while Ryan Rebholz added 13 points and Damon Ellison chipped-in with 11. Jeremy Saffold led UW-Parkside (8-16, 1-15) with 22 points and on a second half free throw became the 20th player in men's basketball history to record 1,000 career points. The junior also pulled down eight rebounds. Conrad Krutwig also notched his first double-double as a Ranger scoring 13 points to go with 12 rebounds. Ziggy Riauka had 16 points and six boards.
MISSOURI S&T 73, ROCKHURST 72 (OT) - BOX SCORE | RU RECAP | MST RECAP
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Missouri S&T beat Rockhurst in Mason-Halpin Fieldhouse for the first time ever Thursday by a count of 73-72 in overtime. The Miners first overcame a nine-point deficit with seven minutes to play, a Hawk basket with two seconds left in regulation time, and another game-tying basket with 19 seconds remaining in the extra period before finally getting a go-ahead free throw by Carlton Westbrook with four seconds left to win it. As a result, S&T won for the third time in a row – all away from home – and moved one game ahead of Rockhurst in the GLVC standings with two games to play and also hold the tiebreaker over the Hawks by completing a season sweep over them. The Miners, now 6-18 overall and 5-11 in the GLVC, only need a victory or a Rockhurst loss in those two remaining games to clinch a playoff berth. S&T got 20 points from Michael Jackson and had three others in double figures, as Tommy Pelczynski and Julian Johnson ended up with 13 apiece. Bryce Foster added 11 for the Miners, who shot 56.5 percent in the second half and made 3-of-4 from the floor in overtime, finishing the night at 48 percent. Rockhurst (7-17, 4-12 GLVC) had four in double figures as well, led by Brandon McCann with 17, as it finished with a shooting mark of 46.8 percent.