QUINCY, Ill. - Junior forward Viktor Kovacevic dropped in a short jumper off a lob pass from Ryan Briscoe with 0.4 seconds left as the Quincy University men's basketball team pulled out a 69-68 victory over Lewis on Thursday night (Jan. 16) at Pepsi Arena.

How It Happened
1st Half
The Hawks and Flyers continued to hit clutch shots in a tightly contested matchup on Thursday night, as neither team led by more than seven points.

Lewis jumped out to a three-point lead early in the first seven minutes of the game, but Austin Downing found Charles Callier for a three-pointer at the 13:14 mark to tie the score at 13-13.

QU grabbed their first lead thirty seconds later when Aziz Fadika hit a shot in the paint to put the Hawks up by two.

From there, the teams went shot-for-shot for the next seven minutes. Viktor Kovacevic stretched Quincy's lead to six with 6:57 left in the first half. The junior from Belgrade, Serbia finished a hook shot in the lane with contact and knocked down the free throw to complete the three-point play. QU led 27-21.

The Hawks later used a six-point stretch to up their lead to seven. Austin Downing hit a pull-up three to start the run, and Ryan Briscoe followed with a jumper in the paint on the next possession. Downing dropped in a free throw a minute later to make the score 37-30 QU.

The Flyers added a three-pointer before the half, as the Hawks took a 37-33 lead into the locker room.

2nd Half
Lewis pulled within one in the first two minutes of the second half, but QU responded when Charles Callier hit his second three of the game to get the scoring started for QU.

Aziz Fadika stayed patient on the block and finished another post move a few minutes later to push the Hawks lead back to seven, 44-37.

The Flyers did not go away, however, as they fought back to tie the game at 56-56 with 7:25 remaining. The visiting team would hit two free throws on their next possession to pull ahead for the first time in the second half.

QU came right back and tied it when Callier finished a driving layup the next time down the court. 

From that point on, the Hawks had an answer for every Flyers shot.

Lewis made a three to go up by just as many, but Austin Downing clapped back for the Hawks by draining another pull-up three.

The Flyers Artese Stapleton got into the lane and scored with eight seconds left to put Lewis up 68-67.

After missing the mark on the next possession, the Hawks earned one more shot after forcing a jump ball.

With 0.4 seconds on the clock, the Hawks drew up the perfect play. Ryan Briscoe threw a beautiful lob pass from the baseline that found a cutting Viktor Kovacevic who layed it in as the buzzer sounded, turning Pepsi Arena into a madhouse.

QU came out on top with the 69-68 victory, knocking off Lewis for the first time since 2017.

Stat Leaders
Austin Downing - 16 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists
Aziz Fadika - 14 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals

QU's Record
9-5, 3-3 GLVC

Up Next
The Hawks will stay at home and face Illinois Springfield on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 18) at 3:15 p.m.