SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – It took a pair of late free throws to seal the win, but the UIndy men's basketball team (10-4, 3-1 GLVC) escaped with a 71-70 win at Drury (7-8, 1-3 GLVC) on Thursday evening. It is the team's fourth straight victory after suffering a four-game skid in December.
 
During the second half, senior Jesse Kempson became the 41st player in program history to record 1,000 career points in a Greyhound uniform.
 

The @UIndyMBB senior exerting his force into the program record book! pic.twitter.com/1jIgjk844l

— UIndy Athletics (@UIndyAthletics) January 11, 2019

HOW IT HAPPENED
Trevor Lakes scored the first 15 points of the night for the Greyhounds, drilling five-of-six from behind the three-point arc. In 16 minutes of action off the bench, Marcus Latham once again provided a spark for UIndy, contributing seven points in the first half as the visitors led by two at the break.
 
The Hounds never trailed in the half until there were eight seconds remaining when a three-ball went through the net to give Drury a one-point advantage. After a timeout, UIndy drove down the floor with Jimmy King drawing a foul to head to the charity stripe for two free throws. The junior point guard sunk the pair before the Panthers narrowly beat the buzzer at the other end of the court.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
After missing the second of two free throw attempts to give him 1,000 career points, Kempson slammed one home after a pass from King to give the senior the milestone number. The Indianapolis native is the second Greyhound to reach 1,000 career points, as senior CJ Hardaway surpassed the mark back on December 1 at Lewis.
 
Lakes' seven three-pointers is the most since the sophomore drilled seven from deep against Bluefield State on December 14, 2017 during his freshman season.

The win ties head coach Stan Gouard with Harry Good with 195 career victories at the helm of the men's basketball program. With his next win, Gouard will be in sole possession of second place behind Angus Nicoson, who won 483 games over 29-plus seasons. Thursday night's win at Drury now checks off the final road destination in the GLVC that Gouard had yet to coach his team to victory.
 
After averaging 87.7 points allowed over a seven-game stretch, UIndy has held three of its last four opponents to 70 or less on the scoreboard. The Greyhounds are limiting opponents to 41.4 percent shooting over that span.
 
The win marks the first victory at Drury since 2007 for UIndy. The Hounds have now won three straight games against the Panthers, but Thursday marked the first time in five tries for the Crimson and Grey to earn a win in Springfield, Mo.
 
With his 12 points in the win, Latham has recorded double figures in four of the past six contests.

HOUND BYTES
Head coach Stan Gouard on Kempson: "It's special. Right now, it hasn't hit him, but once he gets a little older and comes back as an alumni, he's going to feel it. I thought he'd be good, but not this good. We found a good player at the perfect time."

"As a team, we wanted to get better on the defensive end since we were out in Vegas. Ever since the break, we preached defense. If we're going to be a team that makes a run in the tournament, our defense has to carry us. Our players are now holding each other accountable on the defensive end."

"All of our guys played really well. I'm really happy with how Marcus played tonight; he didn't shoot his best, but he made some great plays on the defensive end."

"Our freshmen and scout team did a great job in preparing us. Jacob Polakovich, Gunner Wilder, Demarre Sims, and Jaylin Chinn. Without them we wouldn't have won this basketball game tonight and they deserve more credit than what they will get."

UP NEXT
The Greyhounds will take their win streak into Rolla, Mo. on Saturday afternoon to battle Missouri S&T. The Miners have now lost 10 straight contests after dropping a 73-58 decision to Lewis on Thursday.