Box Score

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. -- Wilbur O'Neal hit two free throws with five seconds remaining in overtime to defeat Lewis, 83-81, at Neil Carey Arena on Saturday night. The Greyhounds (13-2, 6-1 GLVC) won their 10th game in a row led by 34 points, 17 rebounds and four assists from Darius Adams against the Great Lakes Valley Conference North co-leading Flyers (10-8, 3-4 GLVC).

The 17 rebounds by the six-foot, 165-pound Adams are tied for the most by any player in the conference this season and are the most for a Greyhound since Brad Borgman had 17 against Wisconsin-Parkside on Nov. 30, 2000.

O'Neal finished the game hitting 10-of-16 free throws on his way to 16 points, eight rebounds and career-high four steals, while Adrian Moss added 12 points and freshman Miles Mitchell tied his career-high with eight points.

"Wil is playing in an emotional state right now with the loss of his father and I think every game since he's been playing for his dad," head coach Stan Gouard said on the WICR Post Game Show. "He came up big and made some key free throws to seal the victory for us and give credit to guys like Darius and Adrian. His head was down early in the game and it didn't take me getting on him, but our player leadership to make sure his head was up and focused on the task at hand."

Adams hit a jumper from the left elbow with 39 seconds remaining in regulation to put UIndy up one, 68-67, after the Hounds trailed by eight, 48-40, with 12:52 to go in the game. O'Neal then made a steal and went the length of the court to increase the lead to three, 70-67, with 20 seconds left. The Flyers responded with a three-pointer by David Bryant with three seconds remaining to force overtime.

The teams traded baskets to start overtime until Moss scored six points in a row to put the Greyhounds up five, 79-74, with 3:04 remaining after a three-pointer. Lewis came back with the next six points to regain the lead, 80-79, with 35 seconds to play on a lay-up by Dennis Thomas, Jr., but 12 seconds later Adams soared through the lane to convert a missed rebound into a lay-up and put UIndy back in the lead, 81-80.

On the ensuing possession, Lewis picked up two offensive rebounds before Matt Toth was fouled and sent to the line. He hit the first free throw to tie, but then missed the second and O'Neal was fouled by Justin Jarosz to send the big man to the line for his game-winning free throws.

"We try to come out with our intensity on defense and let that carry us into our offense," Adams said on WICR. "In the second half, we got on each other because last year they knocked us out of the (GLVC Tournament) and we didn't want to go home on the bus with a loss."

The Hounds were held to 39.4 percent (28-71) shooting and 31 percent (9-29) behind the three-point line, but they corralled 19 offensive rebounds. Lewis shot 47.5 percent (28-59), but made only six three-pointers and 19-of-33 free throws (.576) in a game that saw nine ties and 14 lead changes.

"The offensive rebounding shows we have a no-quit mentality and we like to play offense because the more offensive rebounds you get, the more chances there are to shoot the basketball," Gouard said. "That's what wins ballgames on the road."

Thomas, Jr., led Lewis with 23 points and Bryant scored 19.

UIndy controlled the early part of the first half to take a seven-point lead, 16-9, with 9:04 left in the half on a lay-up by DeWann Squires. Lewis slowly began to chip away at its deficit to take the lead, 27-26, with 4:04 to go on a free throw. Mitchell hit a three-pointer for UIndy on the next possession and Adams made two freebies to put UIndy back up four. The lead remained at four at halftime, 35-31, after Adams tipped in a missed three-pointer just before the horn.

Lewis scored the first six points of the second half to start a 10-2 run to take a four-point advantage, 41-37, after just 3:45. The lead grew to eight, 48-40, after a three-point play by Thomas, Jr., with 12:52 to go. UIndy righted the ship to score 11 of the next 15 points to close within one, 52-51, with 8:49 to play.

The Flyers hung onto their lead for the next two minutes until O'Neal banked in a fadeaway jumper to put UIndy back in front, 57-56, with 6:22 to play. The Flyers were determined on their homecourt and rallied to regain a three-point lead, 65-62, with 2:22 on the clock.

Adams answered with a jumper and then freshman Leland Brown tipped in a miss by Adams to put UIndy in front, 66-65, with 1:23 left, but Lewis went back in front 28 seconds later, 67-66, to set up Adams' go-ahead score that was scuttled by the ensuing overtime.

The Hounds return to Nicoson Hall on Monday for a showdown with the No. 2 team in the country, Bellarmine (15-1, 8-0 GLVC), at 7:45 p.m.

"We're confident, but we know they aren't going to give us anything," Adams said. "We have to take it away from them."

"I'm very confident in our guys with the way we're playing right now," Gouard said. "We have that no-lose mentality. It should be a good game, like it was tonight, and we're hoping for a big crowd to come out to support us, especially with our students back on Monday for the first day of classes."