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ROMEOVILLE, Ill. -- Wilbur O'Neal had 18 points and eight rebounds, while
Miles Mitchell added 16 points, but No. 21 UIndy men's basketball couldn't hold an 11-point second half lead and fell in overtime, 78-66, at Lewis on Thursday evening
O'Neal scored the first points of overtime on the opening possession, but then UIndy went cold. The Greyhounds (14-4, 7-3 GLVC) missed their next five field goals and three free throws as Lewis (12-6, 4-6 GLVC) went on a 13-0 run to lead by 11, 73-62 with 35 seconds left.
"They made baskets and we didn't get stops on defense," head coach
Stan Gouard said. "I thought we went away from the game plan and started trying to make plays too early in the shot clock and thye made us pay for it."
After trailing by seven at halftime, the Flyers started the second half by closing within four points three times, the last at 48-44, when UIndy went on a 7-0 run to take an 11-point lead, 55-44, with 10:55 to play.
Lewis called timeout and after tough defense by the Greyhounds, banked in a three-pointer anyway to start an 8-0 run to close within three, 55-52, with 7:31 left to play.
Leland Brown scored three in a row to put the lead back at six, 58-52, with 5:55 left, but then UIndy went scoreless for the next 4:54. In that time, Lewis came back to take its first lead since 4-2, 60-58, with a lay-up with 1:57 left.
"Second half, they started making shots and got momentum going their way and they out-toughed us," Gouard said. "They shot 25 free throws after halftime and things just went there way and we couldn't recover."
The Greyhounds forced a couple of stops before
Reece Cheatham was fouled with 1:01 left and made both free throws to tie the score. Tough defense by Brown on the following possession forced an air ball by Lewis to give UIndy a chance at its fifth consecutive one-possession win.
Adrian Moss tried to navigate a pick-and-roll with Vest, but was cut-off and forced to pass cross court to Cheatham, but his three-pointer at the buzzer was blocked.
Moss added 12 points and seven rebounds for UIndy against the Flyers. UIndy shot 41.7 percent (25-60), including 6-of-24 three-pointers (.250), but did out-rebound the bigger Flyers, 41-30.
Lewis also forced 17 UIndy turnovers, while finishing the game at 43 percent (24-56) overall and 9-of-24 three-pointers. Lewis also connected on 21-of-26 free throws, but many of those came when UIndy was forced to foul in overtime.
Trailing by two, 4-2, to start the game UIndy put together a 9-2 run to put themselves in front, 13-6, with 14:44 to go in the half after Moss hit a three-pointer on the left wing,
Reece Cheatham cleaned up a miss for a lay-up and
Joe Daniels converted off a drive and dish from
Cody Vest.
The Flyers came back three times to cut the lead to one, but an 11-0 run by the Greyhounds put them back in control, 34-22, with 3:06 to go in the half. Lewis regrouped with an 8-0 run before Mitchell hit a wide open three in the left corner to account for the halftime score, 37-30.
In the first half, UIndy shot 56 percent, while holding Lewis to 40 percent. The only thing holding the Hounds back was 10 first half turnovers that led to 13 first half LU points.
The Greyhounds end this three-game road trip to return to Nicoson Hall and start three in a row at home, beginning Saturday at 3:15 p.m. against Wisconsin-Parkside. The 2012 class of the UIndy Athletics Hall of Fame will be recognized at halftime and the coaching staffs will be wearing sneakers for Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers Weekend.