INDIANAPOLIS - The UIndy men's basketball team had nine scorers on Thursday night in Nicoson Hall against the visiting Quincy Hawks, but it was the Hounds' 36 bench points that proved to be the difference maker in the GLVC victory for the home team. UIndy prevailed, 93-77, over Quincy. The win improves the Greyhounds to 8-4 on the season and 2-2 in GLVC play.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
It took seven and a half minutes before the Greyhounds took their final lead, after Trevor Lakes drilled a three-pointer from the right wing. A 9-0 run ensued for the home team, led by Martell Miller's five points in the next six minutes. Devin Dixon was a force in the paint, drawing fouls and going five-of-six from the charity stripe. Tate Hall scored the final six points of the opening frame for UIndy with a pair of long balls to give the Hounds a 36-27 advantage at the break.
 
After a well-defended first half, the second period was much more offense-heavy for both sides. Hall dished out five assists all in the first five and a half minutes as the Greyhounds scored 19 of the first 31 points of the half. Ajay Lawton led the bench for the Hounds, scoring all 13 of his points in the second half in his first game back since Nov. 22. Eric Davidson hit a pair of long balls midway through the frame, while free throws and a strong inside game from Jesse Kempson eventually stretched the lead to 16 at the final buzzer.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Ajay Lawton scored 13 points in his first game back since late November. He went five-for-seven from the field and three-for-four from deep, while also dishing out three assists.
 
Tate Hall had yet another solid all-around game against the Hawks, tallying 14 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists. After taking a break from scoring in double figures the past two games, the sophomore recorded another performance and has now reached double digits in 11 of the team's 14 games. The 10 boards matches his career-high total, which came in the final game of 2017 against Barry.
 
The team's 36 bench points is the most the Greyhounds have totaled since Feb. 11, 2017 against Rockhurst a season ago. Lawton had the most of the reserves with 13, while Martell Miller (10), Alex Etherington (5), and Trevor Lakes (5) chipped in some tallies.
 
The Hounds had six players reach double figures in the scoring column, with Eric Davidson having a game-high 19 points on six-of-10 shooting and five-of-six from beyond the arc. It is the most the senior has recorded this season since his 28-point performance against Kentucky State.
 
HOUND BYTES
Head coach Stan Gouard: "It's always great to have some guys come off the bench and contribute the way they did. A number of guys had really good point totals, but they played really good defense for us, too. [Ajay Lawton] brings a calmness to us and our guys did a good job feeding it to him."
 
"An emphasis has been rebounding and team defense. The first day back, we jumped right into some things I wanted to work on, and we spent a lot of time on the break and on rebounding."
 
"Now we play a good Rockhurst team on Saturday. It's a quick turnaround and I'm really excited for where this team can go. We can't be content with what happened tonight. We're going to face some adversity like last year. We have a long bus trip to break it down and put together a game plan. My assistants have done a great job of scouting so I'm sure we're ready to go. We have to take care of us. If we play defense the way we did tonight and share the basketball, we're a dangerous basketball team."
 
UP NEXT
The Hounds travel to Kansas City, Mo. to battle Rockhurst on Saturday afternoon from Mason-Halpin Field House. Tip is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET.