Feb. 12, 2009

Box Score

Indianapolis 70, Lewis 67 in PDF Format

Romeoville, Ill. - A late surge by the Lewis men's basketball team, keyed by 22 second-half points from senior guard Brandon Dagans (Harvey, Ill./Thornton) was not enough as Indianapolis earned the 70-67 Great Lakes Valley Conference victory at Neil Carey Arena on Thursday night.

Dagans finished the game with 24 points on 9-for-19 shooting. Senior guard Mike Robinson (Chicago, Ill./Hales Franciscan/Eastern Illinois) posted 14 points off of the bench for the Flyers, while classmate Jason Genova (Chicago, Ill./St. Patrick/Saint Xavier) posted 13 points, including three trifectas.

Despite Dagans' heroics, the Flyers could not overcome a torrid shooting performance by the Greyhounds in the second half, as UIndy knocked down 60.9% (14-for-23) of their attempts and 75.0% (6-for-8) of their three-point shots. The Flyers could not compete with UIndy's long-range shooting, as they knocked down just 10.0% (1-for-10) of their second half three-point attempts and shot 22.7% (5-for-22) overall from beyond the arc.

The Greyhounds dominated Lewis on the glass, grabbing 40 caroms to the Flyers' 28.

"We did a poor job of executing tonight," Lewis head men's basketball coach Scott Trost said. "We didn't shoot particularly well and I thought we rushed things. We have to play better than this and find a way to rebound (against Saint Joseph's) on Saturday."

With the victory, UIndy improves to 9-14 overall and 4-10 in GLVC action, while the Flyers drop to 13-9 on the season and 7-6 in conference play.

UIndy senior guard Keith Radcliff topped the Greyhounds with 23 points, followed by 13 points from forward Sergey Struck and 12 tallies from guard Tyke Cockerham.

The Greyhounds were in control for much of the second half and held a 69-64 lead over Lewis with 30 seconds left following a free throw from Devin Williams (6 points).

On the ensuing possession, Genova knocked down a jumper, cutting UIndy's lead to 69-66 with 21 ticks remaining. On the in-bounds play, a pass by UIndy's Braxton Mills (8 rebounds) was intercepted by Flyers' forward Lonnie Lawrence (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington).

Dagans attempted a game-tying three-pointer with 12 seconds left to no avail, but Robinson was there for the offensive rebound and was fouled on his put-back attempt. Robinson hit the front end of his free throw attempts, but missed the second. Lewis was forced to foul, sending UIndy's Tristan Rogers to the line for two free throws and the Greyhounds holding a 69-67 advantage with four seconds left.

Rogers made the first, but missed the second as Dagans grabbed the rebound. The Harvey, Ill., native raced up-court and heaved up a desperation, game-tying three-pointer that hit the back of the rim and out, spoiling Lewis' chances for overtime.

Lewis returns to action on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. as the Flyers host Saint Joseph's at Neil Carey Arena. The game will be broadcast on Lakeshore Public Television, which can be viewed through both DirecTV and Dish Network on Channel 56, on cable channel 17 in most Northwest Indiana communities and on 18 and 21 in Chicago and its suburbs.

A Catholic university sponsored by the De La Salle Christian Brothers, Lewis offers nearly 80 undergraduate majors and programs of study, accelerated degree completion options for working adults, various aviation programs and 22 graduate programs in nine fields. The 10th largest private, not-for-profit university in Illinois is being honored for the fifth consecutive year by The Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report. For more information please visit www.lewisu.edu.

##LEWIS##