ASHLAND, Ohio – If anything can be learned from the Greyhound men's basketball team in the early stages of their 2015-16 campaign it's this: they don't shy away from the dramatic.

In their regular season opener – a week removed from two thrilling exhibition matches – the No. 8 Greyhounds (1-0) got a game-winning, buzzer-beating three from senior Lucas Barker to down Lake Erie, 72-69.

Trailing 69-67 with just 13 seconds left, fellow senior Jordan Loyd drew a foul and stepped to the line for two crucial freebies. After hitting the first, the Storm (0-1) elected to call a timeout to ice Loyd, but it had little effect as the 6-3 guard sank the second foul shot to knot the game at 69-69.

After an offensive foul gave UIndy the ball back with 0:03 showing on the clock, Head Coach Stan Gouard's point guard delivered.

"He's our captain, he's our leader," Gouard told WICR, regarding Barker. "I called him our 'Peyton Manning' last year, and he knows exactly what I'm thinking. What a big shot Lucas made for the win. A great screen by Jesse Kempson and Lucas made a big shot."
 
Barker pulled up on the right corner near the top of the circle and lifted the Greyhounds to their season-opening victory – a feat befitting one of Gouard's on-court leaders.
 
"I thought the whole night (Barker) was very positive," Gouard said. "We kind of fell apart there a couple times in the timeout… and we had to pull them back together. Lucas was the one guy the entire night that stayed positive and made those guys come together."
 
Prior to Barker's heroic bucket the Greyhound offense struggled to settle into any kind of rhythm. UIndy turned the ball over 10 times in the opening half while going just 2-for-7 from three-point range, and went to the locker rooms at halftime down 32-31.
 
"Like I told our guys before the game, we're ranked so we're going to get everybody's best every night," Gouard said. "We just weren't ready to go. We had a great shoot-around today but just came out flat. And it wasn't just one guy, it was the entire team."
 
Lake Erie had an answer for every Greyhound run for much of the game – helped in part by 11 3-pointers – and seemingly held the upper hand in a game that featured 11 ties and seven lead changes.
 
Loyd was a key factor in the Hounds' battle down the stretch, scoring 15 of his team-high 20 points in the second half. He went a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe, and chipped in seven rebounds, as well.
 
"When I took (Loyd) out, I told him that the best player on the team finds a way to win down the stretch, and he started putting his head down, driving, and getting to the free throw line and got himself into a rhythm," Gouard commented. "But he's got to bring it the entire game. He's such a good basketball player that he can get 30, 40 points every night."
 
Also crucial to the UIndy win was senior Tyler Rambo, who netted 17 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Barker (11 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists) and sophomore Eric Davidson (10 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals) also turned in solid all-around performances.

UIndy finished 26 of 32 (81%) from the foul line, more than doubling the Storm's 10-for-13 free throw output, and also out-rebounded the Storm 35-30.

The Hounds have a quick turnaround before meeting host Ashland Eagles at 3 p.m. Saturday to wrap up the weekend.

NOTES
- UIndy is 2-1 all-time over Lake Erie. Both of the previous meetings came in December of 2009.