Southern Indiana boxscore in PDF

St. Louis - The Maryville men's basketball team cut a 14-point second half deficit to just three but No. 15 Southern Indiana held on to escape Moloney Arena with an 82-66 win Saturday afternoon.
 
Down 11 at intermission, Anthony Johnson had a three-point play to pull the Saints to 46-38 to open the second half. The visiting Screaming Eagles slowly pushed their lead to double digits and held a 58-44 margin with 13 minutes to play. Evan Booker powered up for a layup, and Jimmy Barton scored on a drive to get the Saints to 58-48. USI hit one free throw but Grant Sims sank four free throws on one trip to pull the Saints to 59-52.
 
DayJar Dickson hit a 3-pointer for USI but Jeff Leeson answered with a triple. After another USI score, Johnson converted inside. Leeson then drilled another from beyond the arc as Maryville closed to 63-60 with 7:07 remaining in the game. The Screaming Eagles hit a jumper before Marvin Grant-Clark scored off a Barton pass to draw the Saints to 65-62 at the 5:48 mark. However, USI scored eight straight points, including two crucial 3-pointers, to rebuild a 73-62 advantage. Forrester Sims sank a jumper to end the USI run. Two more free throws by Grant Sims gave the Saints one last hope at 74-66 but USI hit three free throws to go back up by double digits and rebuff the Maryville charge.
 
Johnson recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Forrester Sims also had 14 points with six boards and five steals. Leeson sank four 3-pointers and finished with 12 points and five rebounds. Alex Stein led Southern Indiana (23-2, 13-2 GLVC) with 21 points.
 
The Saints are now 8-19 overall, 2-13 in the league. Maryville is back home Thursday, Feb. 16, when Drury comes to town on #1000Saints Night at 7:30 p.m.