QUINCY, Ill. – The No. 7 UIndy men's basketball team (20-2, 12-2 GLVC) kicked off a four-game road trip with a 95-76 victory at Quincy University Thursday night, ensuring a fourth consecutive 20-win season.  The Greyhounds led wire-to-wire and sank a season-high 14 3-pointers.
 
Senior Joe Lawson led six Hounds in double figures as the Indy native finished with 18 points, six rebounds and three blocks.  Five Greyhounds hit at least two triples on the night, with the UIndy bench accounting for half the team's 3-point total.
 
The Greyhounds built a 12-point lead at intermission thanks to a 54-point first half, matching their highest total in any half this season.
 
The Hawks (11-13, 5-9) came out of the break swinging, however, scoring nine unanswered points to quickly cut the deficit to three and force a UIndy timeout.
 
"I was worried," admitted UIndy head coach Stan Gouard.  "That was a timeout to wake our guys up.  I thought our body language coming out of the second half was flat."
 
The stoppage proved effective as the Hounds responded with a 13-2 run to recapture the momentum.  The salvo was sparked by Lawson, who scored back-to-back buckets after the timeout.
 
The latter field goal was a thunderous one-handed jam that posterized Quincy's 6-7 forward Dalton Hoover.  Lawson received a long pass from Lucas Barker, spun in the lane and flushed it.
 
"That was a monster dunk," recalled Gouard.  "If you think about the play, it was a pass from the back court in traffic, he catches it, spins and just dunks on the guy.  That was an unbelievable play that you don't see many times at this level, with the pass, of course the catch and then the finish.
 
"I'm glad our guys woke up after that timeout because we could have been in some trouble, but we responded."
 
UIndy led by double digits the rest of the way, with the margin topping out at 25 with 2:42 to go.
 
The Hounds were without the services of versatile senior forward Brennan McElroy most of the night, who left in the first half due to injury.
 
"A lot of credit goes to my guys for stepping up, being able to overcome adversity on the road.  McElroy played just six minutes.  He goes down and everybody just stepped up and did their part."
 
Gouard continued: "I thought our bench was awesome tonight.  I told those guys after the game that if I had a game ball, I'd give it to Jamel Crocker, because he really rebounded his butt off.  He was a warrior tonight, and I'm just so proud of his effort.  He and Kendall Vieke especially off the bench.
 
"And you talk about our freshmen, Martyce Kimbrough and Eric Davidson, who came in and didn't miss a beat.  That's how you go on the road and win games is when everybody's contributing."
 
The UIndy reserves combined for 35 points on the night, with Vieke and Salim Gloyd each scoring a dozen.  Crocker added four points, five boards and a block in 13 minutes of play.
 
The Hounds travel to Kirksville, Mo., to take on Truman State Saturday at 4 p.m. ET.  The Bulldogs (17-7, 9-5) are in second place in the GLVC West standings, just one game back of Drury.

 

The @UIndy Greyhounds gets their 20th win of season. http://t.co/Czvbs0dCmZ pic.twitter.com/AiN5qkEisM

— IndyStar (@indystar) February 13, 2015