Eagle men drops RSC Tourney opener at IUS

NEW ALBANY, Ind.- A pair of 20-point scorers wasn't enough to extend Midway's season, as the 10th-seeded Eagles were eliminated from the River States Men's Basketball Tournament by No. 7-seed Indiana Southeast 80-70 Monday night.

Grenadier guard and RSC scoring champion Jocobi Hendricks set the tone right away by making a 3-pointer on IUS' opening possession. It was the first of four triples Hendricks made during a 16-point first half, eventually scoring 29 on the night.

Midway responded by scoring the next five points, but that gave way to an 18-2 Grenadier run, as the Eagles eventually found themselves trailing by as much as 17 points.

In an attempt to get back in the game, Midway relied on top scorers Donnie Miller and Jalen Cincore, and the pair was able to make things interesting in the second half.

Miller scored 20 of his 27 points in the second half, with Cincore scoring 16 of his 20. Miller twice got the Eagles within seven points, the second time coming off a pair of free throws that made it 57-50 midway through the second half.

That would, unfortunately, be as close as the Eagles would get, as the Grenadiers responded by scoring the next six points as they slowly pulled away and advanced to the tournament quarterfinals.

Despite the loss, Monday proved to be a great end to a great college career for Miller, who leaves having scored a program-record 2,071 points.

Tobias Thompson, also playing in his final game, had a team-best seven rebounds for the Eagles, who conclude the season with a record of 8-17.