SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – The UIndy men's basketball team (12-7, 6-5 GLVC) couldn't capitalize on its momentum from Thursday's victory over fifth-ranked Bellarmine, falling to Illinois-Springfield (13-7, 5-5 GLVC) on the road, 64-61.
 
It was the first time in the teams' short history that the Prairie Stars have beaten the Greyhounds.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was tight in the early going, with Eric Davidson hitting a three-pointer four minutes into the game to give the Hounds a 7-6 lead. The Prairie Stars went on a 12-4 run as the Hounds spotted the hosts a 24-15 advantage at the under-eight media timeout. Ajay Lawton drilled a long ball following a pair of free throws by Tate Hall a couple minutes later to get within a deuce. Illinois-Springfield remained un-phased, stretching its lead to eight by halftime.
 
Trevor Lakes splashed consecutive three-pointers to begin the scoring for the Greyhounds in the second half, inching the Hounds within four, but trailed by as many as 12 at the 10:35 mark. UIndy scored nine of the next 11 points thereafter, capped with jumpers by Hall and CJ Hardaway Jr. to trail 55-50 with less than eight minutes remaining, and knotted the game at 58 when Hall laid it in just after the under-four timeout. The Hounds missed key free throws late as the Prairie Stars sunk its last four to escape with the victory, 64-61.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
The Hounds featured a balanced attack on Saturday, having four players score in double figures. Devin Dixon followed up his 17-point performance against Bellarmine with 11 tallies, matching Tate Hall's output. Ajay Lawton and CJ Hardaway Jr. each had 10 points.
 
After dishing out 13 assists as a team on Thursday, the Greyhounds had just eight, while turning the ball over 12 times. It is the fourth time this season UIndy has recorded single-digit assists, and is 1-3 in those games.
 
Having not recorded a steal once this season, Dixon played thief three times in the loss to lead the team. Lawton had two.
 
HOUND BYTES
On the free-throw shooting and turnovers
Head coach Stan Gouard: "If we're going to win on the road, we have to take care of the ball and make free throws, and we didn't do either. I know 12 turnovers isn't a lot, but the timing of those down the stretch were pretty bad. Then you talk about the bad shots we took down two and three…those are just like turnovers to me. It's very disappointing."
 
On the team settling after Thursday's win
We have to worry about the next game. This would've been a really good win for us. Like I told our games in the locker room, we played hard on Thursday and not tonight. We did some really good things Thursday night and I thought we would turn the corner, and that was false. We didn't take it serious and our mindset wasn't in the right place, and that has to change."


UP NEXT
The Greyhounds welcome in McKendree (11-9, 2-8 GLVC) next Thursday, with tip scheduled for 7:45 p.m. from Nicoson Hall. The Bearcats suffered a 86-56 loss to Southern Indiana on Saturday afternoon.