INDIANAPOLIS – Led by a near triple-double from junior point guard Lucas Barker, the No. 9 UIndy basketball team (18-2, 10-2 GLVC) scored 16 unanswered points in the final four minutes to pull away from visiting Missouri-St. Louis, 87-71, Thursday night.  Barker racked up 24 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds to help the Greyhounds snap a two-game losing streak.
 
In a see-saw battle that featured 11 ties and 14 lead changes, UIndy clung to a two-point lead with four minutes remaining.  The Tritons (15-7, 7-5) would not score again until the waning seconds, however, as the Hounds hung 16 consecutive points on the board to deliver the knockout.
 
Making his second career start and first of the year, senior Kendall Vieke hit three of his four 3-pointers in the second half.  Two of his triples came in the game-clinching stretch, including a contested shot from the wing that forced an UMSL timeout with three minutes to go.
 
The Hounds got a steal on the ensuing Triton possession, setting up another trey from Vieke – a dagger that made it 81-69 to all but put it away.

In all, the Greyhounds put up 54 points in the final stanza, shooting 18 of 27 (.667) from the floor.   The point total marked the highest-scoring second half from the Hounds this season.
 
"I thought we executed a whole lot better in the second half than we did in the first," UIndy head coach Stan Gouard told WICR after the game.  "We were able to get the shots we wanted to get.  We got the ball inside, and once Joe (Lawson) passed out of the double team, guys like Kendall (Vieke) and Dai-Jon (Parker) got themselves going."
 
Despite playing just 24 minutes due to foul trouble, senior Joe Lawson led all scorers with 27 points on 8-of-12 shooting.  He and Barker combined to go 21 of 29 from the foul line.
 
Vieke finished with a season-high 14 points, boosted by a 4-for-5 performance from downtown, while senior Dai-Jon Parker added nine points, four assists, three steals and two blocks.
 
With a four-game road swing on the horizon, the Hounds remain in the friendly confines of Nicoson Hall to host Maryville Saturday.  Tip time is set for 3:15 p.m.
 
 
Notes:  With Jordan Loyd sitting with an injury, the Hounds made their first change in the starting lineup of the season … Like UIndy, UMSL entered the night one game back of their respective divisional lead.  The Tritons, however, fell further back from GLVC West-leader Drury, while the Greyhounds kept pace with East co-leaders Bellarmine and UW-Parkside … The last Greyhound with a triple-double was Adrian Moss (18 pts, 10 rebs, 10 asts) at Parkside Feb. 18, 2012 ... GLVC Commissioner Jim Naumovich was on hand at halftime to present the UIndy football team captains with the 2014 GLVC Football Championship trophy.