ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – The newly-ranked UIndy men's basketball team hit the road for their GLVC opener Saturday afternoon. The No. 20 Hounds had their hands full with a Lewis team that just topped defending national champion Ferris State their last time out. Both teams only had one loss coming into today's contest but Lewis handed UIndy their second loss of the season and first in GLVC play, 84-71.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was an aggressive game early on for both teams, Lewis had the biggest lead of the half, leading UIndy by just five while UIndy's biggest lead in the half was just four. The game was back-and-forth throughout the half, with the leading changing hands nine times. UIndy won the rebound battle in the first half, pulling down 18 boards to Lewis' 13. Neither team could get it going from deep early on, UIndy shot two-of-11 from beyond the arc while the Flyers shot 33% from long-range. Lewis took the lead into the having, only leading the Hounds by three after the game's opening half.
 
Jesse Kempson hit a three to open the half for UIndy, the teams went back-and-forth for the first five minutes much like the entire first half. Lewis hit a three to push their lead to four with 15 minutes to go and started to pull away from there. UIndy would cut the Lewis lead down to five after trailing by as much as ten multiple times. Lewis would find gaps in UIndy's defense and get to the foul line to extend the lead by 15 with less than a minute to go in the game. CJ Hardaway hit a put back layup off a missed free throw to give UIndy 71 points to Lewis' 84 for the game.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Hardaway notched his 1,000th-career point in the loss to the Flyers. The senior spent his first two seasons at St. Joseph's College, where he totaled 672 points in a Puma uniform.
-UIndy shot five-of-22 from three-point range Saturday afternoon, for a season-low 22.7%.
-For the second straight game the Hounds held their opponent under 50% shooting from the field.
-Guard Tye Wilburn came off the bench and finished with a season-high in both rebounds (5) and assists (3).
 
UP NEXT
The Hounds return home for a Tuesday night game this week against Olivet Nazarene at 7 pm in Nicoson Hall.