ASHLAND, Ohio – In what proved to be an offensive showcase on the final day of the Ashland Thanksgiving Classic, the UIndy men's basketball team scored 100 points for the third time in the last four games and defeated Tiffin, 101-88.
 
The Hounds shot 66 percent from the floor, including a 19-for-22 (86.4 percent) clip from behind the arc, which easily surpasses the previous program record of 80 percent in a game. The 19 long balls was just one short from tying the team record with most in a single game.
 
Trevor Lakes led five Hounds in double-digits with 19 points, and going six-for-six from three-point range, breaking the program record with a 1.000 percent shooting from deep with at least five attempts. Ajay Lawton finished with 18 points and eight assists, while Eric Davidson (17), Tate Hall (16) and CJ Hardaway Jr. (14) also finished in double figures.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Jesse Kempson gave the Hounds their first lead just over three minutes into the game with a three-pointer, as Hardaway Jr. tallied seven of the team's first 12 points of the game. Lakes' first of six three-pointers on the afternoon gave UIndy the 20-18 lead, an advantage the Greyhounds would never relinquish.
 
A three from Lawton put the Hounds up by 15 with under three minutes remaining in the half, their largest lead of the session.
 
Hardaway Jr. and Davidson drilled back-to-back three-pointers early in the second half, putting the Hounds up by 16. Tiffin went on a 7-0 run soon after to get back within five points, but it would be the closest the Dragons would get to the Greyhounds. A pair of free throws by Hall with 3:33 remaining gave UIndy a double-digit lead once again, but this time would be the final instance the Dragons' deficit reached nine or less.
 
A couple minutes later, Hardaway Jr. knocked down two more free ones to give the Hounds their third 100-point game of the season, and the third time in the past four games. Miles Wayer made a free throw 16 seconds later to be the 10th Greyhound to score in the game, which also tied the season-high 101 points.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
The last time a Greyhound was perfect from behind the arc with at least five attempts was Jerry Niese on January 24, 1987 when he went five-for-five. Trevor Lakes' six-for-six performance improves the freshman's season percentage to 70.6 percent (12-for-17).
 
The Greyhounds' 100 or more points for the third time in four games is the first time the team has done so since Nov. 23, Nov. 26, and Dec. 7 of 2013. The total of three times surpassing the century mark is also the most since the 2013-14 season when the Hounds did so six times.
 
The team shot 86.4 percent from long range in the victory, the highest percentage the team has ever finished a game with since January 31, 1987 when it sunk 80 percent going eight-for-10 against Northern Kentucky. The Hounds' 19 three's is just one short of the previous UIndy record of 20, which happened this past January against Missouri S&T.
 
Another three steals for Ajay Lawton gives the senior a GLVC-leading 14 thefts on the season. Last season, it took the Westfield, Ind. native eight games to reach 14 steals en route to being named a member of the conference's all-defensive team.
 
Despite offense being the name of the game on Wednesday, Jesse Kempson still managed to get his hands to two Tiffin shots, leading all players with the pair of blocks. The junior already have seven stops this season, which currently ranks second in the conference.
 
HOUND BYTES
Head coach Stan Gouard: "Ajay did a great job facilitating tonight, and our guys did a great job moving without the basketball and finding those gaps. Trevor Lakes and Eric Davidson really opened the court up for us in the first half with their shooting."

"Our bench is great. Thankfully our rookie did a great job off the bench on spot-up shooting. Ajay did a tremendous job on the ball-screen plays, dragging the guy with, and making the extra pass."
 
"We doubled them [Alex Brown and Austin Adams], it didn't work. We fronted them, it didn't work. We had to make sure that with those guys scoring, nobody hit above their averages."
 
"We know we can score the basketball. Like I told the guys last night, we can score it well, but our defense was superb. Today, we scored it well, but our defense took a backseat. It's going to be important over the next few days for our guys to get some rest over Thanksgiving break and come back fresh with some ideas on what we're going to do from a defensive standpoint."
 
UP NEXT
The Greyhounds will enjoy the Thanksgiving break with a 4-1 record and the best start to a season since the 2014-15 squad. The eight-day break will end on Thursday, Nov. 30 when the Hounds travel up to Somers, Wis. to begin GLVC action against Wisconsin-Parkside. The Rangers have begun the season 0-4 after making it to the NCAA tournament last year.