MARIETTA, Ga. — Sitting at No. 12 in the latest NAIA poll, the Freed-Hardeman University Lions visited the Life (Ga.) University Running Eagles on Monday evening. Despite a fast second half by the hosts, the FHU Lions buckled down late to claim victory 72-67.
The first half was a back-and-forth battle with
Ryley McClaran's 3-pointer at 12:38 giving the Lions (9-2) their largest lead of the half at six. After the long ball, Life answered with a five-point swing to narrow FHU's lead to 16-15. From the 3:18 mark to the end of the first half, neither team would lead by more than one point and traded leads four times with a pair of ties. Late free throws from Life put the Lions down 33-32 at the close of the first half.
The Running Eagles (10-3) were dynamite out of the locker room, quickly adding nine points to their lead to take a 42-32 lead with 18:12 remaining in the game. Quickly settling down,
Geraldo Lane's jumper at 16:24 began a 14-3 run in favor of the men in maroon with 3-pointers from
Devin Tomlinson and
Sam Powell. After
Phil Horton tied the game 49-49, it was
JJ Wheat's layup at 12:37 gave FHU the lead they would not relinquish The Lions would expand their lead to 10 points with
Peyton Law's layup at 6:03, but the hosting Running Eagles battled back to within one possession, 68-65.
In the final two minutes, the Lions held on to to a two point edge when Life tried to take the lead, coming up short on three 3-point attempts before the Lions would force a turnover. McClaran would sink last-second free throws to finish the game with a 72-67 victory.
While Life committed only one more turnover than FHU, the Lions turned Life's 16 turnovers into 27 points. The Running Eagles on the other hand scored 10 points off of 15 turnovers.
Ryley McClaran was 3-5 from deep to lead the Lions with 15 points.
JJ Wheat followed with 11 points while grabbing a team-high seven rebounds.
Peyton Law led the Lions with five steals, while
Devin Tomlinson swatted three blocks.
Up Next
The Lions return to Henderson one more time in 2023 to host the (RV) Union (Ky.) College Bulldogs on Saturday, December 16 at 2:00 p.m.
