YORK, Neb. – The York University men's basketball team used a late rally to knock off Haskell Indian Nations University 74-69 Tuesday evening.

The Panthers are now 2-2 while HINU is 2-7.

Carl Thorpe Jr., and DJ Leaks converted buckets for a quick 4-0 advantage. Down 19-12, Dave Dalge canned a three-ball. Chris Dixon's three-point play pulled York within one at 19-18. Trailing 23-21, Ikechukwu Nwaobi netted a pair of baskets for a 25-23 edge at the 8:13 mark.

The Panthers took a 29-27 lead after field goals from Dylan Holston and Nwaobi with 6:56 to go in the half. However, HINU embarked on a 16-4 run to end the stanza.

Trailing 58-42 with just over 12 minutes to play, Dalge canned a jumper. Amari Haynes found Nutting for a three-point bucket to make it a 58-47 contest. With 9:29 on the clock, Holston's lay-up made it a 10-point game.

Down 64-56, Thorpe Jr. drilled a pair of shots to make it 64-60 with 5:53 to play. A 5-0 spurt by the Panthers – behind a three-ball from Dixon and a lay-up from Leaks – pulled the Panthers within two at 67-65 with 2:10 remaining.

Trailing 69-65, Leaks found Thorpe Jr. for a shot from distance. With 31 ticks on the clock, Thorpe Jr. continued with his hot hand and made another shot, putting the home team up 70-69. Thorpe Jr. registered his third steal of the game with 17 seconds to play, forcing a foul by the visitors.

The Panthers were fouled with nine seconds remaining and Dixon hit both charity tosses. Leaks grabbed a defensive rebound before being fouled. He calmly made both free throws for a 74-69 victory.   

Head coach Tree Burks' team was led by Dixon's 19-point performance. Thorpe Jr. added 15 points while Nwaobi chipped in 12. Dalge and Leaks had nine and six, respectively.

Thorpe Jr.'s 14 rebounds gave him a double-double. Additionally, he had three assists, three steals and a block in 32 minutes of work. Dalge and Nwaobi pulled down six boards apiece.  

For the game, York drilled 31-of-61 (50.8 percent) from the floor and five-of-seven (71.4 percent) from the free throw stripe. The squad pulled down 44 rebounds, including 13 on the offensive glass.

Burks' squad poured in 42 points in the paint and had 14 second chance points.

The Panthers return to action Saturday when they host Sterling in the KCAC opener. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at Yorkpanthers.com.