Box score

ROMEOVILLE, Ill.-  Defense was the story but big shots down the stretch headlined a gritty , back-and-forth 70-67 Great Lakes Valley Conference win for the UIndy men's basketball team at Lewis Thursday night.  The Hounds, led by key contributions from leading scorer Keith Radcliff and bench bigman Sergey Struck, kept themselves in the race for a spot in the league's postseason tournament.

UIndy (9-14, 4-10 GLVC) struggled out of the gate, missing on its first seven shots, but Lewis led by only five.  The Hounds scored the next seven points to take their first lead, then later tacked-on another short run to lead by as many as six in the first half. 

The Greyhound defense kept Lewis to just 30.8 percent (8-of-26) shooting in the opening stanza to take a 26-22 lead into the locker room at halftime.  Points were at a premium for the first half and much of the second half with neither team being able to generate much breathing room.

With the score 35-apiece and just over 12 minutes remaining, both offenses seemed to click into gear.  Tristan Rogers hit a layup followed by a quick answer from Brandon Dagans.  Rogers one-upped him with a triple, giving the Hounds a slim one-point advantage.  When the Flyers regained the lead at 43-42, Struck was there with a big three-pointer to swing the momentum back to the visitors.

LU (13-9, 7-6) battled throughout to tie the score four different times in the second half, the final time after a pair of Dagans free throws to put the score at 51-all.  Radcliff then buried a three and Struck connected from deep on the next possession as UIndy wrestled back momentum and its largest cushion of the night.

Dagans would not let the game get away easily, scoring 22 points in the second half alone after the Hounds had locked him up for just a single bucket in the first twenty minutes.  His jumper with 3:46 remaining closed it again within a point, but Radcliff had a three late in the next possession to milk away precious time and give UIndy a four-point margin.

Three Dagans free throws whittled it back to one until layups by Tyke Cockerham and Radcliff coupled with a Struck free throw seemingly put the game out of reach at 66-60 with 1:13 showing.  The Greyhounds continued to dodge the punches of the unrelenting Dagans, who scored on each of the next two possessions for a two-point game with under a minute to go.  UIndy was able to put it away from the line, making 4-of-6 from the charity stripe from that point to hang on for the win.

Dagans led all scorers with 24 points while Radcliff scored 23 to lead the Hounds.  Struck mustered 13 points and seven rebounds off-the-bench and Cockerham added 12 points and six assists for the victors.

The Greyhounds, still just two games out of a playoff spot with four games remaining, take a week off before their next game, a big matchup at home against Kentucky Wesleyan next Thursday at Nicoson Hall.  Tip time is slated for 7:30 p.m.