Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Playing just 40 miles from his hometown of Decatur, Ill., University of Indianapolis senior Darius Adams set a career-high with 41 points to lead the Greyhounds to a Great Lakes Valley Conference men's basketball victory, 69-65, over host Illinois-Springfield on Sunday afternoon.

Adams hit 12-of-23 field goals, including five three-pointers, and career-high 12-of-14 free throws with a season-high eight rebounds, two assists and one steal for the Greyhounds (8-2, 1-1 GLVC) in their fifth win in a row. Adams' 41 points were the most ever scored by a player in the history of the University of Illinois-Springfield Recreation and Athletic Center.

"I felt the drive was open, so I tried to use my penetration to get myself going before shooting the three," Adams said. "Once I made that first three-pointer I got into a rhythm and my teammates were able to get me open for good looks."

Adrian Moss added 11 points, three assists and three rebounds as he hit the go-ahead three-pointer, 63-60, with 2:10 to play after the Prairie Stars (4-6, 0-3 GLVC) had led for nearly the entire second half. The Greyhounds earned two stops on defense and Adams made two free throws to push the lead to five, 65-60, with 35 seconds remaining to hold off UIS.

"We found a way to win," head coach Stan Gouard said on the WICR Post Game Show. "We missed some shots, but when it came down to the last five minutes we pulled one out."

Freshman Daniel Daudu earned his first career start and sparked the UIndy defense in the second half and finished with four steals, four rebounds and four points. The Greyhounds forced 17 turnovers that led to 22 points to overcome shooting 37.5 percent from the field (21-56). The Greyhounds did make 8-of-20 three-pointers and 19-of-22 free throws.

"Daudu does a great job and I think he is our best defender on the basketball team. He doesn't worry about scoring. He just wants to win and always asks to guard the other team's best player," Gouard said.

UIS was led by Chigozie Umeadi with 14 points and seven rebounds, while UIndy held the Prairie Stars' leading scorer, Michael Fakuade, to seven points and four rebounds after he was averaging 16 points and 11 rebounds per game entering the contest.

"We had to rely on our defense to keep us in the game and make plays and that's how we were able to pull out the game," Adams said.

Adams stole the ball and took it the distance to open the scoring, 2-0, but the Prairie Stars went on a 19-5 run to build a 12-point advantage, 19-7, after the first 10 minutes of playing time.

The Greyhounds responded with back-to-back three-pointers by Adams and Moss to ignite a 19-5 run over 4:47 to regain the lead, 26-24, with 4:55 left in the half. The Hounds maintained the lead, 28-26, after a lay-up by Wilbur O'Neal before UIS went on a 7-0 run to take the lead, 33-28, with 1:07 to go in the first stanza.

Despite trailing, UIndy took momentum into the locker room as Adams rebounded a missed three-pointer and went the distance to hit a floater just before the halftime buzzer cutting the deficit to three, 33-30.

The Hounds only converted 35 percent from the field in the opening half (11-31), but did make 5-of-12 triples, while the Prairie Stars hit 45.8 percent of their shots (11-24) and made 9-of-11 free throws to just 3-of-4 freebies for the Hounds. Adams led all players with 19 points at halftime.

In the second half, a dunk by Fakuade pushed the UIS lead to eight, 48-40, with 13:41 remaining and the Prairie Stars grew the lead to nine, 53-44, with 10:44 to go after a lay-up by Umeadi forced a timeout by the Greyhounds.

Freshman Cody Sarrazin scored inside and senior Nate Blank hit two free throws playing in his first game since the season opener after recovering from knee surgery as the Greyhounds scored eight in a row after the timeout. The eight unanswered started a 14-3 run that put UIndy in front, 58-56, with 4:30 to play after two free throws by Adams.

UIS scored the next four to regain the lead, 60-58, before Adams converted a difficult shot inside off glass to set up the sixth and final lead change of the game on Moss' three-pointer.

UIndy will stay on the road and head to Quincy (9-2, 2-1 GLVC) on Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m. The Hawks fought back from a halftime deficit to defeat Northern Kentucky, 58-56, on Sunday afternoon.