INDIANAPOLIS – UIndy men's basketball took care of business Sunday afternoon in Nicoson Hall, advancing to the quarterfinals of the 2017 Deaconess GLVC Championship Tournament with a 76-63 victory over visiting Missouri-St. Louis.

The Greyhounds (16-11) led from start to finish, but the 12th-seeded Tritons (11-18) proved to be a pesky opponent in what turned out to be a dogfight that featured more personal fouls than field goals.

"We're excited, first of all, to see another day," Head Coach Stan Gouard noted. "We told our guys that our season right now is kind of like life after death; we were pretty bad the first semester and turned it around here in the second."

UIndy raced out to an early lead thanks to a 6-for-7 start from beyond the arc, leading 24-8 before the 10-minute mark. UMSL, meanwhile, hit just three of its first 19 attempts.

The Hounds led by as many as 16 points in the first half, and went into the intermission up 39-26 after holding the Tritons to just 10 for 30 overall from the field and 4 for 13 from long range.

Despite rolling over, however, the Tritons continued to battle in the second period. A lengthy 24-13 UMSL run helped the visitors trim the deficit all the way down to five points, 55-50, with nine minutes remaining.

"Give credit to (Missouri-St. Louis); they came out and competed," Gouard told WICR. "We had a couple of chances to put them away. They started putting their head down and going to the paint, and we didn't do a good job off the ball of projecting the paint when those guys drove."

In a half cluttered with numerous personal fouls, UIndy and UMSL combined to shoot 43 free throws, making any sort of momentum-grabbing run by either side all but impossible.

Ultimately, UIndy finished the game on a 21-14 stretch, holding UMSL to a 0-for-5 shooting mark from 3-point range. The Hounds also sank 11 of their final 14 free throws.

Playing without leading scorer Eric Davidson and regular starter Milos Cabarkapa, and with several players battling foul trouble, UIndy relied on its depth to carry the team.

"I'm really proud of our bench," Gouard said. "Miles Wayer, Jabree Bond-Flournoy, Roderick Davis. Those guys came in and gave us some great minutes. We talked with Miles in practice today and we told him to be ready, and he in a hit some big ones for us."

Wayer, a local product from McCordsville, Ind., finished with career highs in points (6) and minutes (15), sinking a pair of 3-pointers.

Four starters – Alex Etherington, Ajay Lawton, Tate Hall and Jesse Kempson – finished with 14 points each. Etherington and Kempson also co-led the squad with nine rebounds.

Up next for the Greyhounds is fourth-seeded Wisconsin-Parkside. The Rangers have had the Hounds' number this season, winning both regular season meetings.

Of the rematch, Gouard said, "(Parkside) beat us by two at their place and by eight here, so it's a 10-point deficit that we're looking at. But at the same time, both those games we had a chance to win but didn't seal the deal.
 
"Our guys are excited, I'm excited to play a team of that caliber, because if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best, and Parkside is one of the best teams in the league."

The Hounds and Rangers tip off from the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind., Thursday March 2 at either 1 p.m. or 3:30 p.m. ET. Stay tuned to UIndyAthletics.com for updated game times.