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LOUISVILLE -- LOUISVILLE -- UIndy men's basketball used solid defense and clutch shooting to down No. 20 Hillsdale, 66-62, in the first round of the NCAA Division II Tournament Midwest Regional at Knights Hall on Saturday afternoon.

The sixth-seeded Greyhounds (20-8) won their first NCAA Tournament game since 1996, ending a six-game drought, by downing the third-seeded Chargers (24-6). UIndy now advances to the regional semis on Sunday at 5 p.m. against the winner of No. 6 Southern Indiana and No. 18 Kentucky Wesleyan.

"I never thought about (NCAA drought), I was just thinking about winning," head coach Stan Gouard said about winning his first game as a coach after winning a national championship as a player at Southern Indiana. "I'm happy to be where we are and happy our guys responded to Hillsdale's run there late. It's a testament to the guys we have on our basketball team. We show a lot of resilience today to win and survive, which is our motto right now."

Regional semifinal tickets for UIndy fans are only available by emailing Kelley Kish (kishk@uindy.edu) and arrangements will be made, since general admission tickets are already sold out.


Reece Cheatham led the Greyhounds with 17 points and Leland Brown scored 15, while First Team All-Midwest Region guard Adrian Moss took more of a distributor roll with eight points, eight assists, five rebounds and two steals. Joe Daniels tied for game-high honors on the glass by tying his career highs with eight rebounds and two blocks.

UIndy limited the Chargers, Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champions, to only 38.6 percent shooting (22-57) overall and 7-of-22 behind the arc (.318). HC was also an uncharacteristic 11-of-17 shooting free throws.

UIndy shot 58 percent in the first half against the GLIAC's best defensive team on the way to finishing at 44.2 percent (23-52). The Greyhounds also converted 75 percent of their free throws, including 5-of-6 in the final 110 seconds.

"We were sharp on defense and very efficient on the offensive end in the first half," Gouard explained about leading by nine at the break. "I thought our scouting report was on point. Coach (Collin) Lanam did a great job of getting these guys ready to go and they bought into the plan."

The Greyhounds built an 11-point lead, 49-38, after Moss found Brown underneath for a lay-up with 14:35 to play, but the Chargers rallied to pull within six, 49-43. Moss answered, 52-43, with his only three-pointer of the game to keep UIndy up nine with 10:04 to go, but the Chargers weren't going away.

"It was effort," Gouard said about Hillsdale's comeback. "We missed free throw checkouts and missed some long rebounds and they made us pay."

Hillsdale strung together a 14-5 run to eventually even the score, 57-57, with 4:31 to go after a pair of Tyler Gerber free throws. After trading possessions, Moss hit his final field goal with a tough fadeaway jumper just outside the right elbow to put UIndy back in front, 59-57, with 3:27 left. After two more stops by the Greyhounds, Brown made a pair of freebies with 1:50 left to increase the lead, 61-57.

The Chargers used an offensive rebound to earn a second chance and buried a three-pointer to close the gap, 61-60, with 1:33 left. Offensive rebounding then proved critical for the Hounds. Wilbur O'Neal snared a Moss miss and finished from nearly behind the basket to put UIndy back up three. Hillsdale quickly made a lay-up with plenty of time to make a stop and get the ball back.

Moss again was able to get off a jumper, but couldn't connect but Brown came away with the rebound with 26 seconds left to keep possession and turn off the shot clock. The Greyhounds were able to burn 10 seconds before Cheatham was fouled. He made both and then UIndy received a break. The Hounds were conceding a lay-up to the Chargers to avoid a game-tying three-pointer, but Gerber missed the wide-open shot and Moss secured the rebound. After being fouled he made the second freebie to secure the win.

The first half saw Moss assist on buckets to O'Neal and Miles Mitchell for the first five points, but Hillsdale hung around to eventually lead, 21-20, after a three-pointer with 7:52 to go. The Greyhounds picked up things from there to end the half on an 18-8 run to lead by nine, 38-29, at halftime after Cody Vest buried a three-pointer from the top of the key.

The Chargers were led by the First Team All-GLIAC pair of Brad Guinane with 19 points and eight rebounds and Gerber with 14 points.