University possesses more size than most teams on Bridgeport's schedule.

How the Indians could hold up inside was likely to go a long way in determining Saturday's outcome when the Hawks visited the Indians.

Bridgeport held up and then some, holding a 38-29 rebounding advantage and scoring 13 more points on free throws, while utilizing a strong fourth quarter to earn a 12th straight victory, 59-53.

"Getting ready for this game, I noted we haven't had to worry this much about this many bigs, and we probably won't throughout the rest of our regular season schedule," BHS head coach Dave Marshall said. "They're pretty darned good athletes to boot, but we held our own."

The Indians (14-1) trailed 39-36 entering the fourth, but went in front over the first 40 seconds of the final frame when Landon Sanders made a three-pointer and Jack Spatafore turned a steal into a transition layup.

Glenn Brown made a pair of free throws to get UHS (11-4) even at 41, and then a baseline floater to tie it at 43.

However, Brown's floater marked his team's only fourth-quarter field goal until just outside the 2-minute mark, and the Tribe outscored the Hawks 8-1 directly after it to take control.

A conventional three-point play from Phoenix Sickles put BHS in front for good with 5:09 remaining, and when Carter Zuliani converted a follow-up shortly after, the hawks trailed 48-43 with 4:13 left.

"They really sucked it up and took care of what they're supposed to defensively," Marshall said. "Really proud of them. It's a good win and there are a ton of teaching points."

Sickles scored on a second chance to help the Indians gain a 51-44 lead, though Brown made a triple with 2:10 left that brought University to within four.

While BHS continued to execute offensively and got a Landon Sanders layup to lead 55-49, Luke Byrer responded with a three-point play to make it a one possession game with 1:24 remaining.

The Indians kept their cool and got two free throws from Gavin Williams to lead by five with 1:11 left, and after a defensive stop, Anderson McDougal made 1-of-2 free throws to increase the lead to six.

Bridgeport finished 20 for 26 on free throws, while University was 7 for 15.

"When you're not making your free throws, it kills any momentum you can continue to have," UHS head coach Joe Schmidle said.

The Hawks led for long stretches of the first three quarters, including 16-10 after one as Brown beat the buzzer with a trey.

The visitors' advantage grew to 23-15 when Zach Demidovich scored inside 2:12 before halftime, but starting with McDougal's three-point play in response, the Indians closed the first half on an 8-3 spurt.

Marshall felt that was a critical 2-minute stretch, particularly as both squads battled foul trouble.

"About halfway through the second quarter, with who I had either on the bench or back with the doctors getting fixed up, I said, 'we have to keep this under 10. If we keep this under 10, we have a chance to get these guys.' Lo and behold, they cut it to three," Marshall said. 

BHS started the second half in strong fashion and ran off six consecutive points to gain a 29-27 lead when Sanders scored inside at the 6:15 mark.

"The putbacks in the second half and free-throw shooting were the difference," Schmidle said. "I wasn't pleased with the number of offensive rebounds we gave them. We've been working a lot on rebounding and free throws, but you can't tell by watching us."

The Indians were in front 34-29 after a Sanders three, but UHS outscored Bridgeport 10-3 over the second half of the period, with an Eli Karpinski corner trey just before the buzzer allowing the Hawks enter the fourth on top, 39-36.

Sanders led three Bridgeport double-figure scorers with 14 points. Spatafore scored 12 and Sickles had a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.

McDougal and Williams scored eight apiece.

"The guys know they played far from their best basketball game," Marshall said. "Our shooting percentage [38.2 percent] shows it offensively, but it's a grind and you need that once in a while."

Brown led all players with 21 points and made half of his 14 field-goal attempts. 

"I've really been getting on him about not shooting the ball when he's open and not taking advantage of opportunities to take the ball to the hole," Schmidle said. "He did a really good job tonight of doing both these things. He made four threes and he hasn't even been shooting threes, which I don't know why, because he can shoot."

Byrer added 12 points and Demidovich had a team-high seven rebounds.