North Easton, Mass.- The Georgian Court University men's basketball squad hit the hardwood for the first time in regular-season action Friday as the Lions opened the 2015-16 hoops campaign with an 86-79 loss to Assumption College (Northeast-10) in a contest hosted by Stonehill College.

The Greyhounds (1-0) would mount an early 10-0 spurt to secure a 10-2 advantage just 3:29 after the opening tip. Assumption would build a stanza-high lead of 41-22 when Mat Sulda (So.-Hatfield, Mass.) drained a three-ball with 1:46 remaining before intermission. 

Coming out of the locker room with a 43-25 surplus, the Greyhounds would grow its lead to a high-water mark of 23 after a pair of free throws from Tre Owens (Sr.-Rota, Spain) made the score 54-31 AU.

The outcome appeared to be all but determined, but the Lions had other ideas as GCU (0-1) took off on a 32-17 sprint over the next 9:56. Two free throws from Nikola Vujovic with 1:23 remaining sliced the Assumption lead to to five at 82-77. Unfortunately, that would bring an end to Georgian Court's retaliation as the Greyhounds held the Lions at bay for the final 83 ticks left on the clock.

Collectively, GCU shot 47.4% (27-57) from the floor, compared to a 42.6% mark (23-54) by Assumption. The Greyhounds edged the Lions from the charity stripe, 81.8% (27-33) to 81.0% (17-21).

Declan Soukup (Jr.-Melbourne, Australia) paced the victors with 20 points in 33 minutes of action, draining 11 of 12 free throws in the effort. Owens and Julian Aiken (Sr.-Randolph, N.J.) contributed 12 points apiece while Jack Sullivan (Jr.-Stony Point, N.Y.) poured in 11 over 21 minutes.

As for Georgian Court, sophomore Juwuan Carter topped the Lions with 20 points, shooting 8-for-12 from the field in 30 minutes of play. Vujovic, in his GCU debut, collected 18 points and a game-high 11 boards to achieve the night's only double-double. Luka Zgonjanin registered 14 points and seven rebounds in 28 minutes off the bench while Michael Pierre added 10 points of his own in a reserve role (22 minutes) for the Lions.  

GCU returns to the floor Saturday night when they take on host-Stonehill College at 6 pm. The Skyhawks (1-0) defeated Post University (0-1), 81-67, in the nightcap of Friday's twin-bill.

Listen to the Voice of GCU hoops, Kyle Crooks, as he calls all the action live on ESPN Williamsport, the web home of the Lions.