INDIANAPOLIS- The University of Indianapolis men’s basketball team outscored visiting Rockhurst 36-16 in the second half to take a 63-52 come-from-behind win at Nicoson Hall Thursday night. The Greyhounds held the Hawks (6-9, 3-5) to just four field goals in the second half on 19 percent shooting to earn the Great Lakes Valley Conference win and improve to 12-5 on the season, 6-3 in conference play.
The two teams traded baskets to begin the game, with Rockhurst’s John Torson hitting a jumper on the Hawks’ first possession and
DeAndre Brock answering with a three pointer on the UIndy end. The teams would trade baskets one more time, with Brock sinking another trey, to make the score 6-4 in favor of the Hounds, before going on a two-minute scoring drought.
Rockhurst tied the game at six with a pair of free throw makes from Torson with just less than 16 minutes on the clock. Jake Meyer would then connect on a three-point attempt at the 15-minute mark to put the Hawks up 9-6. UIndy’s
Donald Cloutier made good on a put-back of a Brock miss to bring the Hounds within one, but Joshua Kwajah made the deficit four again with a three-pointer.
The score would stay within one or two points until half way through the first half, when the Hawks went on a 10-2 run to take a 22-14 lead. During the next three minutes the Hounds would cut the lead to three on a make from
Keith Radcliff and good free throws from
Tyler Kitchel and Brock.
UIndy would keep the deficit around four until about the two-minute mark, with a
Myron Jackson layup cutting the Rockhurst lead to two. The Hawks answered with a 7-0 run to close out the half, ending with a last-second tip-in by Alden Smith off of a three-point miss by Joey Deas, to send the teams into the intermission with Rockhurst ahead 36-27.
The Hounds’ defensive effort ramped up in the second half as UIndy came out of the break and went on a 13-4 run to tie the score 40-40 with 12 minutes to play on a made jumper by
Braxton Mills. The run was fueled by six points from
Tristan Rogers, who finished the night with a career-high 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting.
Rockhurst broke the tie with a pair of free throw makes by Torson. Al Smith then committed a foul on
Justin Barnard on the other end, sending the senior to the line for a pair. Barnard tied the score at 42, and then the Hounds took their first lead since the early going on a lay-in by Kitchel and never looked back.
UIndy stretched its lead to as many as 15 with the Hounds outscoring Rockhurst 32-10 at one point in the second half. The Hawks cut the lead to 11 with a pair of free shots each from Jacob Derritt and Zac Fehrman. But, Rogers answered with another layup on a slicing drive towards the basket to effectively put the game away.
Brock led the Greyhounds with 18 points on the night, with Rogers contributing his 17 points. Both also grabbed five rebounds on the night for the Hounds, who shot 50 percent in the second half and 42 percent for the game.
Rockhurst was led by Torson, who finished with 18 points on the night. He also grabbed seven boards for the Hawks.
UIndy returns to the Nicoson hardwood Saturday in a 3 p.m. tilt with No. 4 Drury.
