INDIANAPOLIS – The UIndy men's basketball team (13-7, 7-5 GLVC) began Thursday night with a sluggish start, but survived a late attack by McKendree (11-10, 2-9 GLVC) to win its third straight game in Nicoson Hall.
 
The Greyhounds are now 10-0 against the Bearcats in the teams' short history, but Thursday was just the third time the game was decided by single digits.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Hounds got off to a slow start, spotting the Bearcats a 12-2 lead at the first media timeout. UIndy inched its way back with a pair of baskets by Tate Hall and took its first lead at 5:27 on a fast-break basket laid in by Ajay Lawton.
 
Alex Etherington hit his second three-pointer of the half to extend that advantage to 31-26, however, McKendree scored five unanswered points in just over a minute to knot the game at 31 apiece. Lawton and Etherington scored the final 13 points of the half for the Hounds, heading into the break with a 39-36 lead.
 
Eric Davidson did what he does best to open the final frame, swishing a pair of trey-balls in transition to quickly grow the Greyhound lead to 11. Roderick Davis and CJ Hardaway Jr. contributed buckets on consecutive possessions, stretching the differential to 18 after scoring 17 points in less than four minutes.
 
McKendree dug its way back within eight, holding UIndy scoreless for over four minutes and forcing two timeouts called by the Greyhound bench. A spark was lit for Hall, immediately scoring seven out of the media break and helping grow the lead back double digits. The Bearcats went on a 14-6 run in seven minutes, trailing by only two points with under a minute to spare before Hall sunk a three-pointer. McKendree answered back on the next possession, but Hardaway Jr. and Davidson sealed the win from the charity stripe to fend off the late visitor run.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Ajay Lawton and Tate Hall led the Greyhounds with 17 points apiece, while Lawton dished out another nine assists in the win. The senior is now averaging 6.7 dimes per game over the past six contests, along with 3.8 steals over the past five games.
 
Roderick Davis played tough in the paint, logging 25 minutes on the floor. The senior matched a career-best five rebounds, while adding four points on the offensive end.
 
Eric Davidson inched his way a little closer to 1,000 career points in a UIndy uniform, scoring 12 of his 14 in the second half, including a pair of long balls. The senior has now sunk 202 career three-pointers, solidifying his top-five spot all-time in program history. Davidson is also 43 three-point attempts away from being fifth all time in the category.
 
The Hounds have five players tally double figures against the Bearcats, including CJ Hardaway Jr. and Alex Etherington. The 13 for Hardaway Jr. is the most since December 19 against Barry, when he also scored 13 points, and is the most he has poured in since the GLVC opener against Wisconsin-Parkside back on November 30. Etherington's 10 points is the most since December 14 against Bluefield State, when he scored 17.
 
HOUND BYTES
Head coach Stan Gouard:
On Lawton's performance…
"He really got out and ran in transition. I thought if we were going to have a chance to even extend our lead, it was because we were getting runs. The first half, we ran a lot of play calls and we weren't getting very much out of those, and I remember stressing in the timeout that we have to get (defensive) stops and run. We did that, we got out in transition and he found the right guys in transition. Our guys did a good job of getting ahead of the basketball, especially CJ Hardaway, and then once we opened that up, Trevor Lakes and Eric Davidson found gaps in the defense for open jump shots."
 
On the team's giving up most of the lead…
We have to learn how to put teams away. I was disappointed with our guys; every time we've gotten the lead thus far this season, we tend to relax, especially on the defensive end. I know our guys are not trying to miss shots, but we took a couple of quick shots, shots that weren't in rhythm, and I call those kind "my turn" shots. But we quit guarding. We gave up straight-line drives to the basket, second-chance opportunities, lost shooters in the half-court defense because we weren't communicating, so I told our guys we're 20 game in and we're still making the same mistakes we made two games into the season.
 
Sophomore Tate Hall:
On the team's slow start…
"We have to go back to what we've been doing, getting back in transition. We got stagnant and started out slow, so we just have to get the ball moving and do what we do best and run in transition."
 
On Lawton's distribution…
"He's a really good facilitator. When he's on the floor, he runs our team and I think we play our best basketball."
 
UP NEXT
The Greyhounds host the Maryville Saints (16-5, 8-5 GLVC) on Saturday from Nicoson Hall for a 3:15 p.m. tip. The Saints dropped a heartbreaker on Thursday at Southern Indiana, allowing a bucket with three seconds remaining to fall to the Screaming Eagles, 61-59.