Smith leads unbeaten Southern Indiana men to 69-50 victory against NKU on Saturday
Southern Indiana remained unbeaten with a 69-50 win against NKU.

Smith leads unbeaten Southern Indiana men to 69-50 victory against NKU on Saturday

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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Jamar Smith poured in 29 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead unbeaten Southern Indiana to a 69-50 win over Northern Kentucky University on Saturday.

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Smith scored 17 points in the first half as Southern Indiana (6-0, 2-0 Great Lakes Valley Conference) rallied from an early 13-5 deficit to take a 33-25 lead at the break. The Screaming Eagles held NKU to 27.6 percent shooting from the field in the second half and led by as many as 24 points.

Southern Indiana shot 53.7 percent from the field and held NKU (4-4, 0-2 GLVC) to just 32.1 percent from the field for the game. The Screaming Eagles also finished with a 36-30 rebounding advantage.

NKU jumped out to a 6-0 lead and eventually stretched that advantage to 13-5 on a 3-pointer by Dustin Maguire. Smith, however, rallied Southern Indiana and tied the game at 16-all with a conventional three-point play at the 12:09 mark of the first half.

After Dennis Gagai buried a 3-pointer to give NKU a 19-16 lead, Southern Indiana used a 13-0 run to take a 29-19 edge with 5:19 remaining before halftime. Nick Duncheon knocked down a 3-pointer and a jumper to cap the spurt.

NKU pulled within five points (42-37) on a pair of David Palmer free throws with 13:22 left in the game, but Southern Indiana used a 25-6 run during the next 11 minutes to build a 67-43 cushion with 2:39 remaining.

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Palmer scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead NKU. Maguire added eight points for the Norse, who have not beaten Southern Indiana in the PAC Arena since the 1996 NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region championship game.

The Norse's last regular-season road win against the Screaming Eagles in the PAC Arena came on Dec. 10, 1994, when NKU pulled out a 96-90 victory against then-No. 1 Southern Indiana.

Gagai, Chris Knight and Tony Rack each scored six points for NKU. Marvin Gray came off the bench for Southern Indiana and dished out a game-high six assists.

NKU returns home to meet Indiana-East at 7 p.m. Tuesday in The Bank of Kentucky Center.
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