INDIANAPOLIS – The UIndy men's basketball team nearly earned a victory over No. 9 Barry on Tuesday night in Nicoson Hall, but the visiting Buccaneers sunk four free throws with less than 18 seconds remaining to escape the Circle City with a 75-72 win over the Greyhounds. UIndy is now 7-4 on the season with only conference games remaining on the schedule.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Devin Dixon kicked things off for the Greyhounds converting on the old-fashioned three-point play on the team's first possession. After trading points until it was tied at seven, the Greyhounds used three different scorers for a 7-0 run, including a transition three-pointer from Eric Davidson.
 
UIndy held onto a lead for nearly seven minutes before CJ Hardaway Jr. knocked down a pair of free throws to regain the advantage. The visiting Buccaneers took their first lead at 30-28 with five and a half minutes remaining in the opening half, a lead that was short-lived at only 90 seconds. Davidson and Tate Hall hit a pair of jumpers late and the Hounds went into the break with a 38-34 advantage.
 
Four scorers fueled the Hounds' 10-0 run to begin the second half, and layups by Davidson and Dixon capped the 14-2 stretch that spanned over six minutes. The host's lead dwindled down to six with eight minutes before Hall earned a bucket and a foul to grow the lead back to nine.
 
Trevor Lakes drilled a long ball with just over four minutes left to stretch the lead back to double figures, but the Buccaneers started getting hot from behind the arc and hit a pair of their own. With the lead shrunk to a deuce, Barry took its first lead in 23 minutes with a three-point ball, but Davidson overcame an early-turnover with a jumper with 17.9 seconds left on the clock as the Hounds clung to a one-point lead. The Bucs were awarded four free throws in the final seconds and held onto for a 75-72 win.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
The Greyhound defense stepped up on Tuesday, holding the Buccaneers to a season-low 35.1 percent from the field and 19.0 percent mark from three-point land. In doing so, the Hounds pulled down 33 defensive rebounds, but forced just seven turnovers.
 
Tate Hall entered the night shooting 61.0 percent from the floor, but shot just four-for-12 in the loss. However, the sophomore poured in nine points, and had a solid overall game with 10 rebounds and six assists, both career-high numbers.
 
Barry out-scored the Greyhounds on the bench, 33-12, with Trevor Lakes and Alex Etherington splitting the home tallies in half. Lakes was two-for-four from deep, raising his season mark to 56.8 percent.
 
Devin Dixon's 17 points is the fourth time this season the senior has reached double figures, and is the highest total since the season opener against Northwood. The Carmel native is now shooting a team-best 61.3 percent from the floor this season.
 
Jesse Kempson has now recorded a block in eight of his 10 games played this season and is now up to 14 stops. The junior set a program record a season ago with 46 blocks and 1.6 per game.
 
HOUND BYTES
Head coach Stan Gouard on the finish: ""We can't finish a basketball game. They gave us a great opportunity to secure a signature win, and I told our guys, 'we can't finish a game.' We got the lead and let them back into the basketball game. We went away from the game plan. We settled behind the post, they got out in transition and got some easy buckets, we left shooters wide open and they drilled us, and then we don't make free throws; we were 15 of 21 from the free throw line and that's not counting the front end of the one-and-one's we missed."

On improving on the glass
"We drill it every day in practice. We've just got to get tougher. Rebounding is all able will and want, and we're not very tough on the inside. We've had some big guys in there, but at the same time we're not pushing guys around, we're not boxing out. We make it a jumping contest and when you make it a jumping contest instead of doing the fundamentals, we don't win those battles. They had 11 offensive rebounds at halftime. We addressed it and they only had five offensive rebounds in the second."

On going into the break before conference play
"I've got to go back and look at some film. I've got to evaluate some guys. Hopefully we get Ajay Lawton back into the lineup.  But we've got to go back and look at some things we're not doing well here in the first half of the season, mainly free throws and our rebounding numbers."
 
UP NEXT
The Greyhounds will take a break through the holidays and get back to the hardwood on Thursday, January 4 against Quincy from Nicoson Hall. Tip is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. as both teams get back in the GLVC action.