VALPARAISO, Ind. – The UIndy men's basketball team knocked off NCAA Division I Valparaiso on Thursday evening, 60-57. The Hounds were down just three at the break before edging out the Crusaders, in part to limiting the host Valpo to under 35 percent shooting.
HOW IT HAPPENED
A strong defensive effort in the first half resulted in a three-point deficit at the half for Greyhounds, despite shooting just 32.1 percent from the field. UIndy grabbed nine more boards in the first 20 minutes, led by senior big man
Jesse Kempson. Newcomer
Jordache Mavunga led the Hounds at the break with eight points, but it was a three-pointer by
Trevor Lakes that kept the visitors within striking distance.
UIndy rode its momentum into the second half, opening up on a 6-0 run with baskets by
Tye Wilburn,
Jimmy King, and Kempson. The Crusaders regained the lead midway through the half, Lakes knotted the game back at 47-47 with another long ball.
A huge block by Mavunga with under three minutes left led to defensive stops down the stretch. Lakes sunk a pair from the charity stripe to increase the Greyhound lead to three with four seconds left, but the Crusaders could not get a good look before the buzzer.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Lakes cashed in a game-best 17 points, with all five field goals from beyond the arc. Overall, the sophomore was five for nine from deep with both of his makes at the line came in crunch time.
Kempson played big in the first game of his senior campaign, bucketing 15 points and grabbing nine boards. The Indianapolis native also dished out six assists to lead the team.
Mavunga proved to be an all-around asset on Thursday, scoring 10 points and securing six boards. After transferring from Jacksonville for his senior season,
Radwan Bakkali grabbed four boards in nine minutes to help the Hounds out-rebound the Crusaders by nine.
In his first game since March 2017, King tallied 12 points in the win, while recording six rebounds and five assists. The junior point guard logged 32 minutes of action, second-most behind Kempson's 34.
UP NEXT
The Greyhounds will head to Muncie, Ind. tomorrow night to take on Ball State for their final exhibition game of the season. The last time the teams met two years ago, the Cardinals defeated the Hounds, 74-64.
