Box Score

INDIANAPOLIS -- One game after struggling to no points and one rebound, senior Wilbur O'Neal carried UIndy men's basketball past in-state rival St. Joseph's, 88-86, in front of 1,341 at Nicoson Hall on Monday night with a career-high 30 points and 10 rebounds.

O'Neal's fourth double-double of the season for the Greyhounds (12-3, 5-2 GLVC) came on 8-of-12 shooting from the field and a career-high 14-of-16 free throws, including making the first 10 in a row against the under-sized Pumas (6-9, 1-6 GLVC)

"The quote before the game was about attitude. Good attitude equals positive things," head coach Stan Gouard said. "Saturday, his attitude wasn't good, but today he was in a great mood all day and it showed. We got him 12 touches in the first half and kept riding his coattails in the second half."


O'Neal's effort inside helped UIndy finish the game shooting 50.9 percent (28-55) overall and 22-of-35 (.629) inside the three-point line. Reece Cheatham added 18 points and seven rebounds, while Miles Mitchell contributed 14 points, four assists and three rebounds. Leading-scorer Adrian Moss chipped in 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and career-high three blocks for the 5-foot-9 guard.

UIndy survived turning the ball over 15 times and allowing 16 offensive rebounds to the Pumas. St. Joseph's shot 46.1 percent (35-76), including 55 percent in the second half (22-40) overall and 7-of-12 behind the three-point line. The Pumas shot just nine percent from three in the first half on 1-of-11 shooting.

Dayvon Sloan led the Pumas with 21 points and eight assists, while Indianapolis-native Phillips Collins added 18 points, four rebounds and three steals. Another Indy native, Damon Ellison, scored 15 points.

The Greyhounds had to survive in the final moments after taking a nine-point lead, 82-73, with 1:23 left on a Cheatham lay-up. SJC came back to go on an 8-1 run to pull within two, 83-81, with 41 seconds left. The Greyhounds hit four free throws in a row to build the lead back to four, 87-83, but Jason Chorba hit a long three to make it a one-point game with 12 seconds left.

Jarrett Hamilton then made 1-of-2 free throws to give St. Joseph's a chance as it found Ellison wide open in the left corner, but his potential game-winning three-pointer was short. The rebound was tipped out to the top of the key to Chorba, but his off-balance three attempt was no good for UIndy to survive.

The Greyhounds opened the game leading 10-2, but SJC came back to go on a 15-5 run to take the lead, 17-15, with 11:48 to go. UIndy rallied to go on a 7-0 run capped by a three-point play from Hamilton to get the lead back. The Greyhounds continued to pull away and took a 13-point lead at halftime, 44-31, as Moss' fadeaway three-pointer with one second left hit nothing but the bottom of the net.

"In the first half, we got some easy buckets, pounded the ball inside and made good decisions when they double-teamed," Gouard said. "In the second half, we settled for threes and they did a better job of getting into the paint."

UIndy pushed the lead to 16, 52-36, with 17:56 to play after Mitchell drove the baseline and dished to Cody Vest for an easy lay-up. The Pumas came right back with eight in a row to set the stage that UIndy wouldn't be able to put them away.

"We do that every game. It almost cost us against UMSL on Saturday and we did it again tonight," Gouard said. "We don't do a good enough job of finishing the basketball game. We'll keep working on that because bad things happen if you let them back into the ball game."

After sweeping this three-game homestand, the Greyhounds return to the road for a trip to No. 7 Southern Indiana (14-1, 6-1 GLVC) on Thursday and No. 2 Kentucky Wesleyan (14-1, 6-1 GLVC) on Saturday. The Screaming Eagles defeated the Panthers, 72-57, in Evansville on Monday night.