Box Score

INDIANAPOLIS – Senior James Hollowell had 17 points and 10 rebounds in his first game for UIndy to lead it past Franklin, 79-64, at Nicoson Hall on Saturday night.

The Greyhounds (1-0) won their home opener for the seventh year in a row by taking down the Grizzlies, who were counting this contest as an exhibition.

Leland Brown and Reece Cheatham each scored 15 points on a combined 12-of-17 shooting, including 3-of-4 three-pointers for Cheatham.

The Grizzlies were paced by 33 points from Bailey Howard, including 13-of-15 free throws. Franklin was able to hang around most of the game by reaching the foul line and converting (21-25). When they didn't get to the line, UIndy was able to hold its southern neighbor to 36.5 percent.

The Greyhounds shot 49 percent, including 46 points in the paint. The taller Greyhounds dominated on the glass as well with a 43-26 advantage that led to 23 second-chance points.

UIndy started strong and held a seven-point lead, 13-6, after an offensive putback by freshman Chris Connell with 15:45 left in the first half. Franklin picked up its attack and strung together an 11-1 run to build a three-point cushion, 17-14, with 12:22 left in the opening half.

The Greyhounds came back to score the next six points to regain the lead, 20-17, and eventually went up seven, 30-23, on Hollowell's three-pointer with 7:09 to play. Five quick points by the Grizzlies kept it close, but UIndy extended the cushion to 11, 40-29, after another bucket by Connell on the way to an eight-point halftime lead, 40-32.

Moments into the second half, Franklin was back within four, 43-39, but another three-pointer by Cheatham helped UIndy extend the lead back to 11, 52-41, with 14:25 remaining. The Grizzlies continued to keep UIndy from pulling away and were still within four, 57-53, when Hollowell tipped in a miss and Cheatham hit a floater to put the Hounds back up eight, 61-53, with a little more than six minutes to play.

Franklin never pulled closer than six the rest of the way as UIndy forced some key stops late and freshman Avery Harmon made 4-of-4 free throws in the final 41 seconds to ice the game.

The Greyhounds return to Nicoson Hall on Wednesday at 7 p.m. for a meeting with UC Clermont.