INDIANAPOLIS- The Greyhound men's basketball team took a lead against Rockhurst on its first possession of the night and never looked back, taking a 79-64 Great Lakes Valley Conference win over the visiting Hawks at Nicoson Hall Thursday.
UIndy (12-10, 6-7 GLVC) took the lead on the first basket of the game, a three-point make by
Ryan Sims (Fort Wayne, Ind./Fort Wayne Snider / Bowling Green State), and held onto it throughout the first half. A layup by
Sergey Struck (Wabash, Ind./Southwood / Danville Area C.C.) with just more than 10 minutes in the half gave UIndy its largest advantage, pushing the Greyhounds up by 14, 28-14.
The Greyhounds kept their lead around 10 until three straight three-pointers from the Hawks (14-8, 9-4 GLVC) cut the UIndy lead to just four, 39-35 with 59 seconds in the first half. The third three prompting a 30-second timeout by the Greyhounds, who answered with a pull-up jumper in the lane by
Larry Woods (Robbins, Ill./Shepard / Moraine Valley C.C.). The Woods make pushed the UIndy lead back to six, 41-35, heading into the halftime break.
At the half, the Greyhounds held a 55 percent shooting clip for the first half, behind 4-for-5 shooting from behind the arc from Sims. The Fort Wayne native tallied 14 of UIndy's first-half output, and was the only player in the game in double-figures after 10 minutes of play.
UIndy held the lead throughout the second half, with Rockhurst only able to get as close as three with still more than 17 minutes to play. A three-pointer from
Devin Williams (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central / Wabash Valley), followed by a
Darius Adams (Decatur, Ill./MacArthur / Lincoln College) layup a minute later pushed the Greyhound lead back to eight.
A 7-1 run around the 12-minute mark put UIndy back ahead by as many as 12, a lead they would continue to maintain for the rest of the contest.
One final push by UIndy, a 17-2 run that brought the game to the one-minute mark, put the Greyhounds up 79-60. The run was punctuated by a two-handed throw-down by Sims for his 19th and 20th points of the ballgame. Rockhurst would score a quick four points in the last minute of play for the 79-64 finals score.
Sims led all scorers with 20. Adams put up a double-double on the night with 15 points and a team-leading 10 rebounds. Aaron Hill led the Hawks with 12 points on the night.
The Greyhounds continue their weekend home stint, hosting Drury in a 3:15 contest Saturday afternoon at Nicoson Hall.
NOTES: Both the UIndy and Rockhurst coaches supported the national "Coaches vs. Cancer" initiative by wearing sneakers with their suits while coaching Thursday.