March 14, 2004

Boxscore

ROMEOVILLE, Ill.--Southern Indiana gradually pulled away from Findlay in the final six minutes and claimed a 75-67 victory Sunday in a semifinal game of the NCAA Division II men's basketball Great Lakes Regional Championship.

Southern Indiana (25-6), the No. 3 seed in the eight-team regional, advances to Tuesday's championship game to play either No. 4 Michigan Tech or No. 8 Wayne State.

There were eight ties and 10 lead changes in the first half. The Screaming Eagles outshot Findlay .519 to .400 from the floor in the first 20 minutes, but the Oilers' 9-2 edge at the foul line limited USI's halftime lead to just 33-30.

No. 2 Findlay (25-7) pulled to within a point on four occasions in the second half, the final time 51-50 with 6:07 to play. But a 12-3 spurt over the next three minutes gave USI a 63-53 cushion and firm control of the game.

USI's Cris Brunson led all scorers with 23 points and added four assists. Randy Holbrook had 17 points and seven rebounds and Joe Gordon added 15 points for the Screaming Eagles, who shot .542 overall and .429 (6 of 14) from 3-point range and were a perfect 17 of 17 at the foul line.

For Findlay, Frank Phillips had 22 points and four steals, Dustin Pfeifer tallied 18 points and three steals, and Tyson McGlaughlin netted 10 points.

Southern Indiana committed 21 turnovers to just 11 for Findlay, but the Eagles gained a 37-24 rebounding advantage and held the Oilers to .404 overall shooting and .238 (5 of 21) in 3-point attempts.

3/14/04