Box score

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky.-  Host Northern Kentucky took a 65-61 win over the UIndy men's basketball team Saturday night at the Bank of Kentucky Center in the regular season finale for both teams.  The win assured NKU (15-12, 8-10 GLVC) the Great Lakes Valley Conference's third seed in the East division and placed the Hounds (12-15, 6-12) into the division's fourth-seed for the upcoming league tournament.

NKU's David Palmer led all players with 20 points and 10 rebounds.  Darius Adams led Indianapolis with 17 points while Sergey Struck and Ryan Sims each chipped-in 13 points.  It marked the fifth-straight loss for UIndy, who will try to regroup next weekend when it makes its first GLVC tournament appearance since the 2004-05 season.

It was a see-saw battle throughout and a Palmer bucket to start the second half gave the home team a 29-27 lead.  From there, the Greyhounds scored nine straight points to take their largest lead of the night at 36-29 with the final points in the run coming on a three by Struck.  NKU immediately answered, scoring eight of the next 10 points as the teams duked it out.  The game saw 13 ties and 17 lead changes with neither team relenting in the regular season's final contest.

NKU took the lead for good on a pair of Palmer free throws with just under three minutes to play and Dennis Gagai followed with a huge three-pointer to give his team a four-point cushion heading into the final two minutes of play.  After four empty UIndy possessions, Nate Blank was fouled as he shot a three-pointer and fell to the floor, injuring himself.  Blank had to exit the game with 2.4 seconds showing on the clock and a five-point deficit.  Sims shot the free throws in his stead and calmly knocked down the first two before attempting to miss the third intentionally.  His shot hit the rim and went in, forcing UIndy to foul and Gagai stroked a pair from the line to salt the game away.

The Greyhounds will travel to Drury University for the first round of the GLVC tournament.  UIndy will play Lewis in the first round game Saturday at 4:00 p.m. EST (following a 2:00 p.m. women's first round game) with the winner advancing to face the host Panthers Sunday in the quarterfinal round.  Sunday's winner will play in the semifinal round of the league tournament, set for play Mar. 6-7 in Springfield, Ill. on the campus of Illinois-Springfield.