INDIANAPOLIS – Add a slash to the tally marker, as the UIndy men's basketball team stretched its win streak to five on Sunday with a thrilling 80-79 victory over Illinois Springfield at Nicoson Hall.
 
Five Greyhounds finished with double figures, led by Dashawn Jackson's game-high 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting, including a 3-for-6 effort from 3-point range.
 
UIndy led for more than 33 minutes but were forced to overcome a raucous second-half comeback from UIS. Jackson gave the Greyhounds the lead for good with 25 seconds left before Dylan Ingram sealed the win at the free throw line for the second straight contest.
 

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— UIndy Men's Basketball (@UIndyMBBALL) January 5, 2025

HOW IT HAPPENED
Several Hounds chipped in during the team's first-half run, with buckets from Kelvin Amoako and a 3-pointer from Zac Szul stretching their lead to as many as 16 late in the period. The Prairie Stars responded, however, outscoring the Greyhounds, 13-4, over the next three minutes.
 
UIndy took advantage of the half's final possession, with Grant Disken feeding Lavonte Harris on the left wing for a buzzer-beating triple to put the hosts up 11 at the break.
 
Disken capitalized on an and-1 opportunity early in the second half, putting the Greyhounds in the driver's seat with a 14-point advantage at the 16:10 mark. It was from there the Prairie Stars shot their way back into the conference contest, forging a 31-14 run over 10-plus minutes.
 
The Greyhounds did not fold; Tucker Tornatta came alive to score eight of his 10 points in the final five minutes, including a three-point play to give his team a 70-69 lead. UIndy held UIS scoreless for nearly three minutes in the final moments, scoring five of its final seven points at the charity stripe for the win.
 
INSIDE THE BOX
- UIndy has scored at least 38 points in the first half in each game during its five-game winning streak, including 43 this afternoon against the Prairie Stars.
- The Hounds coughed up possession of the ball a season-lowfour times, including zero in the entire first half. The Crimson & Grey outscored their opponents off turnovers, 16-2.
- Each of Tornatta's 10 points came in the second half; the freshman Swiss-army knife added six boards, four assists, one block, and one steal to his scoring total.
- Disken was on fire in the early going, drilling three triples in the first 10 minutes of the game.
- The Greyhounds recorded nine steals, including two from Brody Whitaker.
 
MORE NOTES
UIndy now leads the all-time series, 16-3, and has won the last three meetings by single digits … Szul finished with 11 points, including three triples in the win … UIS guard Evan Altman scored a team-high 16 points, while Max Kunnert was the lone player on the afternoon to log 40 minutes of action.
 
HOUND BYTES
Jackson on the UIS comeback…
"We couldn't find it from 3, but we were getting open looks. We should have knocked those down and we let them get easy stuff; we got to be better with that. We have to start putting our foot on the gas when we have that opportunity."
 
UP NEXT
The Greyhounds look to keep their winning ways going on Thursday, as Quincy visits the Circle City and Nicoson Hall for a 7:30 p.m. tip. UIndy has won the past three meetings with the Hawks, including a double-overtime thriller in the GLVC quarterfinals in March 2023.