SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – Despite career-high scoring outputs from Eric Davidson and Jesse Kempson, the UIndy men's basketball team came up on the short end of a 116-107 final at Lake Superior State Thursday night. Trailing by 20 as late the 6:40 mark, the Greyhounds (1-2) got as close as four but could not surpass the in-region Lakers (1-0), who benefited from 20 UIndy turnovers while shooting 55% from the field.
 
Twelve months after hanging then-personal-best 26 points in a home win versus these same Lakers, junior Eric Davidson blew by that with a gaudy 35 points Thursday night. The Fishers, Ind., native shot 11-for-16 for the field, 3-for-7 from three and a perfect 10-for-10 from the line on the way to just the third 35-plus effort since 2011*.
 
Meanwhile, Kempson also set a new career high with 28 points while adding seven rebounds.

Playing nearly 600 miles from home, the Hounds found themselves in a 95-74 hole with just seven minutes to go. However, the next three minutes saw the visitors orchestrate a game-changing 19-2 rally to cut it to four before the four-minute mark. Tate Hall, Alex Etherington and Ajay Lawton each nailed a triple to help cap the run with 15 unanswered points.
 
However, the Lakers would ultimately decode the UIndy press and make enough plays down the stretch to keep the Hounds at arm's length. Their final total of 116 points marked the highest sum allowed by the Hounds since 2004

Mistakes on both sides of the ball cost Stan Gouard's squad right from the opening tip, as the Hounds coughed up three turnovers within the first 90 seconds of the game while the home side shot out to a 19-2 lead.

"We spotted [Lake Superior] too big of a lead, and we wasted so much energy getting ourselves within single digits and we just couldn't seal the deal," Gouard told WICR following the loss. " I am very disappointed that we're not fighting. We practice harder than we play, and it should be the other way around."

Part of the Lakers' success came in transition, where they racked up 32 fast break points to UIndy's eight. Lake Superior State also finished with 64 points in the paint and 24 second-chance points.

"We gave up 32 points in transition to our eight, and that's disappointing because that's something we work on on a daily basis," Gouard said. "Our guys are not buying in right now, and it's my job as a coach to get either these guys to buy in, or we need to shift the lineup, and I think that's what's going to happen Saturday."

While the 116 points allowed will steal the headline, the Hounds still managed to score 107 points on an even 50 percent (35 of 70) shooting clip, converting 10 of 19 second-half 3-pointers. Along with Davidson's and Kempson's outbursts, Lawton tallied 16 points in 24 minutes - good for a UIndy career-high. Etherington finished in double figures with 10 points.

UIndy has a brief respite before facing another regional foe on the road, traveling to meet Hillsdale Saturday for a 3 p.m. tip.

*Prior to tonight, Jordan Loyd had the only two such games - both last season - since Darius Adams scored 36 in February of 2011.