Matt Barker, Sports Information Director

HENDERSON, Tenn. - The Freed-Hardeman Lion basketball team proved it's not how you start a game that matters, but how you finish it, as a strong second half Saturday afternoon propelled the Lions to a 92-90 victory over Lindenwood University-Belleville at the Brewer Sports Center.

The Lions had plenty of offense to go around in the match-up, as four players reached double figures, led by Marcus Baldwin, who ended the day with 24 points after going 8-for-13 from the field and 4-for-6 from behind the arc.

Kortland Martin and Ehab Eltayeb followed close behind on the attack, as Eltayeb ended the day with 18 points and eight rebounds while Martin chipped in 18 of his own and dished out five assists. James Davis rounded out the scoring for the Lions with 16 points after shooting an impressive 6-for-8 from the field.

The Lions (7-14, 4-9 AMC) shot 53 percent from the field and 50 percent from behind the arc in the game compared to Lindenwood-Belleville (8-12, 6-7 AMC), who shot 45 percent from the field and 33 percent from behind the arc. The Lions overcame a sluggish 38 percent shooting performance in the first half and came out on fire in the second half, shooting 68 percent from the field on 19-for-28 shooting to secure the comeback win.

Martavian Payne led the Lynx and all scorers in the game with an impressive 34 points after going 6-for-12 from behind the arc. Three other players reached doubled figures for the Lynx including Larry Cotton, who put up 13 points while Sean McGee and Imani Starling each chipped in 12 points in the loss.

The Lions struggled to get anything to fall in the first half, as the Lynx jumped out to an early 7-0 lead in the opening four minutes of the game before Kortland Martin broke the scoring drought with a layup to put FHU on the board.

However, from there, the Lions continued to play catch up the remainder of the half, as they trailed by as many as 11 points at the 26-15 mark with 10 minutes remaining in the first half. FHU struggled to stop the scoring punch of Martavian Payne, as he fired in 23 of his 34 points in the first half. Despite FHU closing the gap to three points at the 26-23 mark, the Lynx out-shot the Lions 19-13 to give FHU a 45-36 deficit entering the break.

Despite having their share of struggles in the first half, the Lions more than made up for it in the second half, as they shot an impressive 68 percent to finish the game. The Lynx extended their lead back to 11 points to open the second half before the Lions responded with a 10-2 run over the next three minutes to pull within three points at the 52-49 mark.

The Lions kept the momentum rolling over the next ten minutes, as they out-shot the Lynx 32-19 to take a commanding 81-71 lead with six minutes remaining in regulation. The Lynx put together some late heroics to close the gap to two points, but it would not be enough, as the Lions hung on for the 92-90 victory.

With the win, the Lions move to 7-14 on the season and 4-9 in conference play. Lindenwood-Belleville falls to 8-12 on the season and 6-7 in AMC play with the loss.

UP NEXT: The Lions are back in action Saturday, January 27th, as they host conference foe Hannibal-LaGrange University. Game time is slated for 3:00 PM at the Brewer Sports Center.