Box Score

INDIANAPOLIS -- Justin Benedetti hit a three-pointer with 2.5 seconds remaining for No. 2 Bellarmine to defeat the University of Indianapolis, 99-97, in front of 2,088 at Nicoson Hall on Monday night.

The Greyhounds (13-3, 6-2 GLVC) overcame a 22-point deficit, 70-48, with 16:41 to go to take the lead, 95-94, on a three-pointer by Darius Adams with 90 seconds remaining. The Hounds increased the lead, 97-94, with 23 seconds to go after two free throws by Adams.

The Knights (16-1, 9-0 GLVC) made a quick two and fouled with 11 seconds remaining, but this time UIndy missed both free throws to set up Benedetti's shot from the left wing on a drive-and-kick by Luke Sprague. UIndy had one last chance, but turned the ball over on the inbounds pass to see its 10-game winning streak come to an end.

"Bellarmine is a very skilled basketball team, but the way we played in the second half shows we can play with the No. 2 team in the country," head coach Stan Gouard said. "We just have to do it for two halves and do a better job of executing."

Adams led all players with 33 points, six rebounds and four assists, while freshman Daniel Daudu added 12 points, four rebounds and two assists, senior Nate Blank scored 12 points and Adrian Moss contributed 11 points.

The Greyhounds shot 54.2 percent (32-59), including making 15-of-26 three-pointers (8-of-12 in the second half comeback). However, UIndy converted on just 18-of-29 free throws (.621), while Bellarmine converted on 26-of-31 (.839). The Greyhounds also allowed the Knights to shoot 50.8 percent overall (31-61) and 11-of-20 behind the three-point line.

Jeremy Kendle led Bellarmine with 27 points and nine rebounds, while Braydon Hobbs had 19 points, eight assists, four rebounds and three steals.

During the second half comeback, UIndy shot 62 percent and held the Knights to 44.8 percent from the field, while also winning on the glass, 19-14, and out-scoring them 9-2 on the fast break.

"I never gave up on my guys," Gouard said. "I knew we could score the basketball. We average 89 points a game for a reason. We just need to be able to stop somebody and that's what I tried to put into their mindset."

After a pair of early one-point leads, the Greyhounds fell behind, but came the game close as they trailed by just three, 28-25, on a three-pointer by Adams with 10:04 left in the first half. The Knights took over at that point with a 20-1 run over the next 5:11 to build its advantage to 22, 48-26, with 4:34 still to play in the opening half.

The Hounds rallied to cut the lead to 14, 54-40, after a three-pointer by Blank with 2:38 to go, but Bellarmine pushed the lead back to 19 before freshman Jarrett Hamilton scored the last three of the half to close the deficit to 16, 59-43, at halftime.

The Knights shot 56 percent in the first half, hit 7-of-12 three-pointers and made 16-of-17 free throws, while UIndy shot 46.7 percent, hit 7-of-14 three-pointers and made 8-of-13 free throws. Bellarmine also had a 24-9 rebounding edge in the first half, which led to an 11-2 lead in second-chance points.

"We traded buckets for too long and when I put the bench in, we played a little bit better. They shared the ball and were the sparkplug. The bench has to keep being sparks for us and the other guys have to do a better job of understanding what we're doing and how we want to do it. We can't just make the home run play all the time. We've got to stick to the game plan and we didn't do that in the first half," Gouard said.

Bellarmine was still hot to start the second half as the lead ballooned back to 22, 70-48, with 16:41 to go in the game when UIndy started its comeback. Adams single-handedly scored 12 consecutive points with two three-pointers, a three-point play and another conventional three from distance to cut the margin to 10, 70-60, in just 2:39.

The Hounds couldn't get past the 10-point barrier as Bellarmine still led by 11, 84-73, with 6:39 to play when Daudu scored inside and Moss buried a triple to cut the margin to six, 84-78, with 5:46 left. The Knights got the lead back to 10 with four quick points, but UIndy answered with eight in a row to cut the lead to two, 88-86, on a fast-break three-pointer by Paul Corsaro with 4:11 to play.

The Knights were hanging on until Adams put UIndy in front, 95-94, with 1:40 to go for the first time since it was 5-4 with 17:22 remaining in the first half.

The schedule doesn't get any easier for UIndy as they go back on the road to play at No. 18 Kentucky Wesleyan on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. and at No. 6 Southern Indiana on Saturday at 4:15 p.m.