Box score

INDIANAPOLIS - The UIndy men's basketball team suffered their fourth straight loss as they dropped their home finale to visiting Bellarmine University 88-80 on Monday night at Nicoson Hall.

The visiting Knights jumped out to an early lead, breaking a 13-13 tie with an 11-0 run capped by a pair of free throws from Oladapo Fagbenle.

The Greyhounds closed the gap to 36-31 on a three-point basket from Ryan Sims at the 2:45 mark in the opening period for three of his 16 first-half points.

Bellarmine responded by closing the first 20 minutes on another run, this time outscoring the Hounds 9-2.  Braydon Hobbs buried a trio of free throws after he was fouled on a three-point attempt as time expired to give the Knights a 45-33 halftime advantage.

Bellarmine continued hold their lead at 12 as both teams traded baskets through the first 10 minutes of the second half as the Knights led 58-46 at the 9:54 mark.

UIndy pushed the BU lead back to single digits on a fast-break layup from Alec Dye and closed the gap even further after a steal and a bucket from Darius Adams made the score 62-56 with 7:22 remaining.

The Hounds would get even closer as an off-balance three from Nate Blank found the bottom of the net with just 42 seconds on the clock to pull UIndy within one possession at 80-77.

However, clutch free throw shooting from the Knights down the stretch would end any hopes of an Indianapolis comeback as Bellarmine secured an 88-80 victory.

Adams led the way for the Hounds in the scoring column, netting all 24 of points in the second half.  Blank and Sims also finished in double digits for UIndy with 19 and 16, respectively.

The Knights placed five players in double figures as Hobbs led the balanced scoring attack for BU with 18, with 10 of them coming at the charity stripe.

Bellarmine outrebounded Indianapolis by a tally of 40-26 and connected on 29 of 34 free throw opportunities for an 85 percent clip.  UIndy equaled the Knights in percentage from behind the charity stripe but attempted 22 less free throws.

The Greyhounds fall to 12-14 on the season and 6-11 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play with the loss while Bellarmine improved to 18-7 and 11-5 in conference action.  UIndy will wrap up their regular season on Saturday when they travel to Northern Kentucky to take on the Norse.  The game is slated to begin at 7:45 PM.