Box score

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – After trailing by 12 with five and a half minutes left, the University of Indianapolis fell just short in its comeback attempt, dropping a road game to Northern Kentucky (13-5, 6-4 GLVC), 67-62.  The Hounds cut it to a deuce with 77 seconds remaining, but the NKU Norse hit 7-of-8 free throw attempts from that point to hold off a persistent Greyhound squad.

 

It took all of ten seconds for the Greyhounds to get on the board, as a Braxton Mills flush started the scoring with an exclamation point.  The Hounds would be playing catch-up from that point on, however, as NKU found its first-half rim forgiving.  The Norse shot an efficient 16-for-30 in the opening period while the Hounds connected on just nine shots in the same number of attempts.  The Norse would slowly build its lead to ten with 6:46 remaining before eventually pushing it to 14 at the break.

 

Mills (pictured) was the only Greyhound to find success from the floor as his 11 first-half points came from 5-of-7 shooting.  Mills also added five boards and a block in the game’s first twenty minutes.

 

After the break, it took the Hounds just five minutes to shave ten points off the Norse advantage.  Between bookend Justin Barnard layups, UIndy’s leading scorer DeAndre Brock drained a 24-footer to cut it to nine.  Immediately following a Norse miss, Brock hit a leaning triple with the shot clock winding down to inch the Hounds closer.  Barnard capped the run at the 14:52 mark to make the score 37-33.

 

The momentum returned to the home team on the next possession as NKU’s Kevin Schappell answered with a three.  Moments later, Schappell hit another three to push the advantage back to 14 with just twelve minutes to go.  The senior finished with a game-high 20 points.

 

The Greyhounds would not go away as they would meticulously chip away at the Norse advantage.  The Hounds used the free throw as an effective second-half weapon, connecting on all ten of their attempts in the final ten and a half minutes while finishing a perfect 12-for-12 in the game.

 

With the Hounds down eight and 1:46 showing on the clock, Scott Strahm led the charge.  After being fouled on a three-point attempt, the senior point guard calmly sank all three of his foul shots.  After NKU added two one-pointers of their own, Strahm scored three more points, this time on a single shot as his long-range jumper cut the lead to four with ninety seconds left.  A Norse turnover gave Brock the opportunity to knock down a jumper and trim the deficit to two.  Nevertheless, the Greyhound could not get over the hump as NKU iced the game from the foul line due in large part to Schappell, who went 6-for-6 from the line in final 26 seconds.

 

Brock finished with a team high in points by scoring 14, with ten coming in the second half.  Though he was hampered with foul trouble throughout the game, Braxton Mills managed 13 points, nine boards and two blocks.  Justin Barnard added 12 points, five rebounds and two blocks.

 

UIndy (10-7, 6-4 GLVC) treks to Louisville, Ky. on Saturday to face the Bellarmine Knights.  Tip is scheduled for 8:00 pm.