Postseason: Men’s Basketball
Foul trouble and outside shots led the University of Indianapolis (19-8, 12-6 GLVC) to a 69-63 loss in the GLVC Tournament against Lewis University (17-13, 9-9 GLVC). Despite this loss, UIndy will continue in the NCAA Tournament with a match-up against top-seeded Bellarmine on Saturday, March 12.
“They sat back in a zone all night, and we shot way too many threes and didn’t put any pressure on the basket at all,” said Head Coach Stan Gouard.
Forty six percent of the shots UIndy took were from beyond the arc. The Greyhounds were 11-30 in 3-pointers and shot 23-64 overall. Senior guard Darius Adams paved the way for UIndy with 20 points in the loss.
With 20 seconds to go and down by one, the Greyhounds took a full team time-out. After returning to the court, Gouard did not like what he saw in the Lewis defense and chose to take a 30- second time-out to readjust his team. The inbounded ball found its way to senior guard Darius Adams, who drove into the lane, forcing the Lewis defense to collapse. Adams kicked it out to the wide-open senior forward DeWann Squires, who put up a 3-point attempt that could not find its way in.
“I had a good look [on the final shot but] just couldn’t get it to go down,” Squires said.
The Greyhounds came up big on the glass, winning the rebounding battle 40-28, with 17 offensive rebounds that led to a 23-4 advantage in second-chance points. Squires led the team with 11 rebounds, his career high at UIndy.
“I just wanted to go up and get the ball to start the break,” Squires said.
But Lewis got back into transition defense, allowing UIndy only seven fast break points.
“We did a good job attacking the boards, but we didn’t capitalize by getting out and running,” Gouard said. “We held them to three offensive rebounds and just couldn’t capitalize.”
Foul trouble limited the Greyhounds’ effectiveness by keeping Adams and junior forward Wilbur O’Neal’s off the court for long periods of time.
“I just tried to play my game and not let adversity effect it,” Adams said.
UIndy committed 10 team fouls just halfway through the second half, allowing Lewis to take advantage of the bonus, shooting 18-25 at the foul line.
Lewis was led by senior guard Dennis Thomas Jr., who scored 31 points, 19 of which came in the second half.
“He just took over the game in the second half,” Gouard said. “He was under control and made good decisions.”
Thomas Jr. averaged 16 points a game throughout the season until his 31 points against the Greyhounds. He took advantage of the bonus in the second half, shooting 8-10 from the free-throw line.
“We tried trapping him [Thomas Jr.], but he was able to get to the free-throw line and get into a rhythm,” Gouard said.
The Greyhounds sit eighth in the latest regional rankings.
