Box Score

OWENSBORO, Ky. -- Cody Vest hit a three-pointer from the right wing as time expired for UIndy men's basketball to defeat No. 1 Kentucky Wesleyan, 80-77, in front of 2,734 fans at the Owensboro Sportscenter on Saturday afternoon.

This is the second time this season that UIndy (14-3, 7-2 GLVC) has defeated the top-ranked team in NCAA Division II after defeating Bellarmine, 99-94, on Dec. 1. The Greyhounds also knocked off No. 7 Southern Indiana, 59-56, in Evansville on Thursday night to be 3-0 against top-10 teams this season.

"It's all about poise," head coach Stan Gouard said after coaching his 100th game for the Crimson and Grey. "Fortunately for us we haven't cracked in pressure situations. I think the Bellarmine game really helped us out to win these type of games. We never cracked in the timeouts and everyone was calm. I just let those guys know we were okay and everything was going to be all right."

Trailing by one, 75-74, with 2:17 to go, the Greyhounds quickly regained the lead as Adrian Moss drove the left side of the lane and tossed the ball in off the glass while being fouled. He converted the free throw to put UIndy back in front, 77-75, with 2:02 to play. Neither team scored again until the Panthers (15-2, 7-2 GLVC) forced a turnover and tied the game with eight seconds left.

UIndy called timeout to set up a chance to go full court and win the game. Moss took the ball out-of-bounds and then passed it across the baseline to Leland Brown. Brown in-bounded to Vest, who waited for Moss to come take a hand off. Moss drove up the left side of the court and drew a double team to pass the ball across the court to a wide-open Vest to hit the first game-winning shot of his life.

"We knew we would get a shot because we got the ball to Moss on the run. I thought eventually Reece or Miles would be open in the corner because Moss draws a lot of attention or he would have a lay-up," Gouard said. "Cody Vest did a great job of reading the play and sprinting down to the three-point line. They collapsed on Moss and here we are right now."

"I saw my guy go off onto Moss and I just made the read of dropping back. I knew Moss would make a great decision and he made the pass to me for a good look," Vest said.

Moss led all players with 27 points, along with five assists and three rebounds, while Reece Cheatham added 17 points and Brown had a season-high 10 points and career-high seven rebounds.

"I don't want to look ahead to next year, but we're going to miss his leadership," Gouard said. "(Moss) brings a lot of intangibles that people don't see. He's a great leader and makes sure these guys are ready to go each and every night."

UIndy shot 43.4 percent (23-53) overall, including 12 three-pointers. The Greyhounds also ended the game making 18 consecutive free throws to finish the game at 22-of-23 (.957). KWC countered by hitting 45 percent (22-49) overall and 25-of-29 free throws, along with eight three-pointers.

"Toughness prevails. We talked about toughness on Thursday night and tonight we said the tougher team was going to win the battle and I thought we were tough down the stretch," Gouard said. "A lot of credit goes to our guys for hanging in there and not getting their heads down. They kept fighting and that's all you can ask of these guys."

The Greyhounds out-rebounded the bigger Panthers, 33-25, including 11 offensive rebounds that led to a 13-2 lead in second-chance points. Joe Daniels came off the bench to lead all players with a career-high eight rebounds at Kentucky Wesleyan for the second year in a row.

"I'll take hustle over talent any day," Gouard said. "Our guys bring it every night and work their tails off. It's a challenge for those guys. They know we're undersized and may not be the quickest or most talented team, but we work hard. We pride ourselves on that and I'm really happy for our guys."

The Panthers started fast by scoring the first nine points of the game, but UIndy regrouped to go on a 15-5 run and take the lead, 15-14, on a Moss three-pointer. Kentucky Wesleyan staged a rally with 20 of the next 29 points for a 10-point lead, 34-24, with 6:16 to go in the half.

The runs continued as UIndy went on a 19-6 spurt over the last 5:15 of the half to lead at halftime, 43-40, as Moss drove the lane and found Cheatham for a three-pointer on the left wing as time expired.

"We kept our composure and like I told the guys in a timeout, we've been here before," Gouard said. "A lot of credit goes to our seniors, Adrian Moss and Wilbur O'Neal, and to Jarrett Hamilton. I took him out of the basketball game because I thought he made a bad decision late, but he was our biggest cheerleader on the bench and you can't coach enough guys like that."

Kentucky Wesleyan started fast with the first five points of the half to regain the lead, 45-43, and start a stretch of six lead changes. UIndy had the last one and stretched its lead to five, 54-49, with 14:39 to go after converting both freebies after KWC head coach Todd Lee was assessed a technical foul. The Greyhounds pulled away to take a nine-point lead, 63-54, with 9:42 left after free throws by Jarrett Hamilton and Cheatham.

The Panthers came back with a 13-3 run over 3:19 to regain the lead, 67-66, with 5:59 to play after a dunk by Brandon Johnson that brought the house down. UIndy quickly quieted the crowd as Moss drew a foul nine seconds later and hit both free throws to put UIndy in front for good.

The Panthers were led by Johnson with 17 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, while Anthony Young added 17 points and seven rebounds.

The Greyhounds wrap up this three-game road trip by heading to Lewis on Thursday before returning to Nicoson Hall to host Wisconsin-Parkside on Saturday at 3:15 p.m. on Hall of Fame Weekend.