Box score

INDIANAPOLIS-  In its first home loss of the season, the UIndy men's basketball team dropped a 72-63 decision to 22nd-ranked Quincy at Nicoson Hall Saturday afternoon.  A resilient Greyhound squad kept within striking distance until the very end, but the visiting Hawks escaped with its undefeated record intact.  Junior Darius Adams led all players with 21 points while Ryan Sims added 11 off the bench.

Despite being out-shot by nearly 20 percentage points, UIndy (7-4, 1-1 GLVC) put a scare into the nationally-ranked Hawks (12-0 3-0), as the contest was a two-possession game as late as the final minute.  The Greyhounds forced five more turnovers then they gave up while also grabbing six more offensive rebounds then their opponent.

The Hounds got on the board first with a tip-in from senior Sergey Struck, but the visiting Hawks ran off 10 straight to seize control.

A pair of threes from junior Darius Adams helped bring the Hounds within four at 14-10.  The Lincoln College transfer continued his hot shooting, nailing his third triple in less than three minutes to keep it at four.

Senior Dijon Knight scored four straight to make it 21-all with seven minutes left, good for the game's first and only tie.  The Hawks orchestrated another key spurt, however, scoring eight unanswered to build its second eight-point lead as the half.

Later, Adam's fourth three of the period capped the first-half scoring, as the Hounds went into the locker room down 32-26.  Twenty of UIndy's 32 shots in the first half came from behind the arc, though only Adams connected from long range.

The Hounds' shooting woes continued in the second half.  After shooting just 28% in the opening half, UIndy missed four of its first five second-half attempts as the visiting Hawks built a 13-point edge.

The momentum finally began to swing back the Hounds' way as a 10-2 run cut the margin to five.  Junior Ryan Sims connected twice from downtown during the rally, while senior Devin Williams hit a pair of lay-ups and also took a charge.

After the Hawks pushed the lead back up to double-digits, the Greyhounds again trimmed it back to five with seven minutes remaining, thanks in part to its offensive rebounding.  Adams and DeWann Squires earned second-chance buckets on back-to-back possessions, part of 22 second-chance points on the game for UIndy.

The Hounds chiseled the Quincy lead down the three, but QU senior Billy Baptist hit a big three before earning a steal a lay-up to make it 63-55 just before the final media timeout.

On the other side of the stoppage, UIndy's ensuing possession saw the Hounds get a chance at the rare five-point play.  Just as Sims pulled up from behind the arc, the Hounds drew a foul away from the ball to send Struck to the line.  Sims knocked down his jumper and Struck hit one of one to halve the Quincy advantage.

The four-point margin with three minutes remaining would be as close as the Hounds would get, however, as Quincy delivered a dagger at the foul line.  With 3:01 on the clock, junior Andrew Kueker got fouled in the act of shooting a three and preceded to knock down all three charity ties, pushing the deficit to seven.

The Hounds would get it to within five on a couple of occasions, but would get no closer as Baptist punctuated the win with a dunk with 15 second left, earning the Hawks their 12th win of the year.

Adams supplemented is game-high point total with eight rebounds and a season-high five 3-pointers.  Sims finished with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting, Williams added 10 points and two steals, and Nate Blank added seven points, seven boards and three assists.

UIndy remains at home to face GLVC-newcomer Illinois-Springfield Monday, Jan. 4.  Tip time from Nicoson Hall is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. and will be preceded by the women's game.



Notes:  UIndy had won its previous seven home games…Quincy's win extends its program record for wins to start a season to 12.