Matt Barker, Sports Information Director

HENDERSON, Tenn. - The No. 9 Lions will face a familiar opponent tonight as they travel to McKenzie, Tenn. to take on former TranSouth Conference foe Bethel (Tenn.) University in a 7:00 PM match up at Crisp Arena.

SETTING THE STAGE

FHU (7-1, 2-0 AMC) enters tonight's matchup coming off a 95-87 win over Blue Mountain (Miss) College on Monday. The Lions held a comfortable lead for a majority of the first half as they shot 48 percent from the field. The Lions would come out firing to open the second half as they went on a 7-0 scoring run to extend their lead to 17 as they went up 50-33 just two minutes into the second half. FHU would lead by as many as 19 with just under 15 minutes to play as Isaiah Harrison would score six straight points to extend the lead.

Despite FHU's lead, Blue Mountain would not go down without a fight as they shot an impressive 59 percent from behind the arc in the second half to close the gap to four points with 11 minutes remaining in the game. Blue Mountain senior Tucker Trumbo led the charge for the Toppers as he shot seven-for 11 from behind the arc to lead all scorers with 21 points. However, four points would be the closest the Toppers would get as the Lions would go on a 5-0 run starting with a three-point field goal by Orlando Bass followed by a steal from Forhetz, which led to an easy bucket on the other end of the floor for Austin Dempsey to extend the lead to nine with 10:44 remaining in the game.

Orlando Bass led the Lions in total offense as he put up 18 points and pulled down eight rebounds while Isaiah Harrison continued his strong play on both ends of the floor and had 16 points and four blocks. Austin Dempsey and Evan Forhetz just missed double-double performances as Dempsey put up 16 points and pulled down nine rebounds while Forhetz had eight points and dished out 10 assists.

Bethel University (6-1, 1-1 SSAC) enters tonight's matchup coming off a 77-71 win over St. Catharine (Ky.) College on Saturday. Senior Cole Nelson led the Wildcats in total offense with 15 points while Eddie Green nearly put up a double-double performance with 14 points and nine rebounds in the contest. Bethel shot 48 percent in the game compared to St. Catharine who shot just 36 percent. The Wildcats also took control of the glass as they out-rebounded St. Catharine 46-38 to pick up their sixth win of the season.

INSIDE THE SERIES

The last meeting between FHU and Bethel was a barn burner as the Lions were able to come away with a 95-94 double-overtime victory last season on November 24. With the victory, the Lions picked up their sixth straight win of the season.

The double-overtime finish was fitting as both teams went back and forth for a majority of the game. Specifically, there were 22 ties and 20 lead changes in the match up with FHU's largest lead being six while Bethel's largest lead was five. FHU had a chance to seal the game in regulation, as they led by two with nine seconds left with Evan Forhetz at the line. He made the first, but missed the second and Bethel's Justin Williamson hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to force the first overtime.

In the second overtime, Bethel scored four quick points to go up 94-93 with just under 10 seconds left. Forhetz, though, was fouled as he drove into the lane and this time made good on both ends of the double-bonus to secure the 95-94. Forhetz led all scorers with 23 points and eight assists while Ben Meis added a season-high 20 points. Cameron Lewis had 17 points despite sitting for a majority of the second half in foul trouble.

The Lions will look to have similar success against Bethel this season as they travel to McKenzie, Tenn. tonight for the 7:00 PM match up at Crisp Arena. The Lions enter tonight's match up on a seven game winning streak and will look to continue their strong play as they face another tough non-conference opponent.

COVERAGE

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