Men’s basketball loses to Northern Kentucky after defeating No. 1 Bellarmine
Senior Wilbur O’Neal takes a shot in the middle of the lane over an NKU defender. Photo by Jessica Stucky
The University of Indianapolis men’s basketball team fell to undefeated Northern Kentucky University (6-0, 2-0 GLVC) 80-63 on Dec. 3.
“Our school behind us, as the sixth man, helps us gain more confidence in ourselves,” said senior forward/center Wilbur O’Neal. “It brings a lot more excitement to the game and helps us go out, play hard and do our best.”
The Greyhounds were 2-of-14 from the free-throw line, while NKU scored 24 of its points in foul shots.
“When you don’t defend, rebound and make free throws, you’re not going to win very many ball games,” said Head Coach Stan Gouard. “Those were the three things we didn’t do well against those guys [NKU].”
With 8:24 left to play in the first half, sophomore guard Jarrett Hamilton tied the game, 22-22. However, NKU hit two 3-pointers and went back on top, 28-22. Senior guard Adrian Moss made a pass to junior forward Mikel Brigham for a slam dunk to pull the Greyhounds within one. But the Norse ended the half with a 9-0 run and a lead of 39-29.
“NKU, individually, they’re all talented and more athletic than what we are,” O’Neal said. “But overall, we gave them a hard-fought game. At the end of the day, we knew what we had to do to win the game. I guess we just didn’t execute, and we didn’t follow the game plan the coaches gave us.”
Seventy-two seconds into the second half, NKU built its lead to 15. The Greyhounds responded with their own 8-0 run to cut the Norse’s lead to 44-37. Hamilton went to free-throw line with 11:27 left in the game and made the only two UIndy free-throw points.. NKU secured the win in the final six minutes with a 13-2 run that built a 17-point lead.
Moss finished the game with 17 points, seven assists, four rebounds and two blocks. O’Neal finished as the second highest Greyhound scorer with 16 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals. Hamilton finished out the double digits scorers for UIndy with 13 points.
Before falling to NKU, UIndy defeated No. 1 Bellarmine University (6-1, 1-1 GLVC) in overtime on Dec. 1.
Bellarmine ended the Greyhounds’ season last year and according to Gouard, the Greyhounds were looking for revenge.
“It didn’t take much to get these guys going because they knew,” Gouard said. “Some of these guys had it marked on their calendars from last year when they [Bellarmine] ended our season. To be the best, you have to beat the best, and I think we beat a really good basketball team.”
Moss said that his responsibilities during the game went beyond keeping the team motivated.
“Anytime you beat the No. 1 team in the nation, that’s motivation itself,” Moss said. “The main thing I focused on was not keeping everyone motivated, but keeping everybody focused.”
After the Greyhounds recovered from an 11-point deficit less than five minutes into the game, the team trailed the Knights 37-30 at the half.
However, at the start of the second, Bellarmine built its lead back to 11 with a score of 49-38. Sophomore guard Reece Cheatham started a 7-0 run for the Greyhounds after scoring a 3-pointer. With 11 minutes left to go in the game, the Knights regained an eight-point lead of 61-53.
UIndy tied the game for the first time at 67-67 when Cheatham was sent to the free-throw line after being fouled while shooting from behind the arc. With 5:01 left on the clock, Cheatham hit another 3-pointer to give UIndy its first lead since the start of the game.
With 46 seconds left in regulation, Cheatham hit a pair of foul shots to make the score 83-82, but the Knights scored again to take the lead with 17 seconds remaining.
A missed three by Moss, a rebound and a missed second attempt by O’Neal gave Brigham the chance for a rebound. With 3.3 seconds left, Brigham tied the score 84-84 with 1-of-2 free throws, sending the game into overtime.
In the extra session, the Knights scored first, but an offensive rebound and a 3-point play by O’Neal put the Greyhounds on top 87-86. As the clock wound down, Moss was fouled and hit both free throws, keeping UIndy on top of the Knights with a final score of 99-94.
: Greyhound fans ran onto the court to celebrate with the team as UIndy defeated the Bellarmine Knights. Photo contributed by Sports Information
The team will be heading to Las Vegas to participate in the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic on Dec. 16-17. O’Neal said that the team will continue to work hard to prepare for the match-ups in Vegas.
“Right now we’re just taking one game at a time,” O’Neal said. “We’re going day- by-day and keep working hard and just trying to get better each day.”
