Indianapolis Holds Off UMSL For Win

Rivermen Fall to Indianapolis 71-67

St. Louis, Mo. – The UMSL men’s basketball team played a hard-fought game, but saw a second half comeback fall short at Indianapolis, losing 71-67 to the Greyhounds.

It was a tight game early, as the teams exchanged buckets in the opening minutes of the half. With the game tied at 6-6, Indianapolis grabbed the lead but UMSL stayed close the whole half. With the Rivermen down two points at 17-15, Indianapolis went on a 7-2 run, pushing their lead up to seven points at 24-17 with seven minutes left in the half. The Rivermen answered with a rebound dunk from Daryl Saine and four points from Jared Pratt to cut the deficit to one point at 24-23 with four minutes remaining. The Greyhounds then ran off seven of the next nine points to close the half and went into the lockerroom with a 31-25 advantage. Saine kept UMSL in the game most of the half, scoring 10 points in the first half.

The Greyhounds sprinted out of the gate in the second half, scoring the first six points and opening up a 37-25 lead early in the half. The Rivermen fought back, using a 10-2 run to close the gap to just four points at 46-42 with just under nine minutes remaining. Rodney Rollins scored Indianapolis’ only two points during that run, and ended the UMSL run by scoring eight consecutive points by himself to extend the Greyhounds lead to ten points at 54-44 with 6:30 remaining. Indianapolis would hold that lead and extend it to 14 points at 62-48 with just over three minutes to play and appeared to have the game in hand. The Rivermen didn’t give up, going on a 12-3 run, sparked by seven points from Ronnie Banks and a big three pointer from Mindaugas Adamonis. After another Adamonis jumper with just 30 seconds left in the game, UMSL was down by just four points at 66-62. The Greyhounds would hold on by hitting free throws, as Indianapolis scored all of their final 14 points over the last five minutes from the free throw line, holding on for the 71-67 win.

The Rivermen were led by Ronnie Banks with 19 points, with 16 of those coming in the second half. Daryl Saine came off the bench to score 16 points and grab six rebounds as well. Indianapolis was led by David Logan with a game high 22 points. UMSL falls to 5-17 on the season and 2-14 in the GLVC and will be on the road Saturday as they travel to play at Saint Joseph’s.