THE RUNDOWN
LAS VEGAS -- Southern Indiana's Nate Hansen scored 16 of his game-high 23 points in the second half to spur the Screaming Eagles to a 78-70 win over Midwestern State in the finale of the Rollis Las Vegas Classic Tuesday afternoon at the Doolittle Community Center.

The loss sends MSU into the Christmas break with a 3-9 mark, while USI improved to 9-3.

The Mustangs used a strong defensive effort in the first half to bolt out to a 8-point lead after sophomore guard Logan Hicks finished off of a 10-0 run with floater in the paint and a 3-pointer from the right wing for a 14-6 MSU lead.

After DayJar Dickson ended a near 6-minute Southern Indiana scoring drought, with another 7-0 run punctuated by a two-handed dunk by Josh Huntley to give the Mustangs a 21-8 lead with 7:45 to go in the first half.

Midwestern maintained its 10-point edge into halftime, but the Screaming Eagles peeled off an 11-4 run to start the second half to pull within 41-38 following  a pair of Hansen free throws with 17:12 to play.

MSU fought back with back-to-back jams including a follow dunk by Brandon Neel and an open court flush by Huntley as MSU re-established a seven-point edge at 45-38 with 16:38 to play.

Southern Indiana kept coming as Hansen fired in a 3-ball from the corner to tie the game at 45-45 with 14:08 to go. Devante Pullum buried a triple from the top of the key to give MSU the lead once again but it was shortlived.

The Screaming Eagles delivered a 12-0 run after consecutive 3-pointers by Mateo Rivera and Hansen staked USI to a 71-62 lead with 3:09 to go.

NOTES
- Midwestern State matched a season low with eight turnovers.
- The Mustangs limited Southern Indiana to 46.3 percent shooting from the field. It was the lowest opponent field goal percentage since Florida Southern shot 44 percent against the Mustangs on Nov. 25th.
- Senior guard Brandon Neel scored in double figures for the fourth straight game and for the eighth time this season.
- Senior forward Josh Huntley mached a season high with 16 points while pulling down eight rebounds in a campaign-most 28 minutes.
- Senior guard Trey Kennedy scored in double figures for the sixth time this season finishing 12 points on 3-of-9 shooting. He was 5-for-5 from the free-throw line.
- Sophomore guard Logan Hicks connected on a pair of 3-pointers to finish with 10 points for the second straight game. He has hit at least one triple in each of MSU's 12 games this season.

UP NEXT
Midwestern State hits the road for a Lone Star Conference game at Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday, Dec. 30th at the Steinke Physical Education Center. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.