HENDERSON — The No. 3 Lions of Freed-Hardeman University were driven down to the wire by a scrappy Life (Ga.) University Running Eagle team, but the men in maroon and white were able to hit late 3-pointers before sealing the 85-80 win with free throws.
After
Makai Vassell got things started with a jumper, the Lions (13-1) watched as Life bucketed eight unanswered points including two 3-pointers. The Lions were aided by triples from
Ryley McClaran and
Sam Powell to right the ship before
Blake Dean's 3-pointer gave the Lions back the lead. Freed-Hardeman never had a safe lead with Life answering every bucket. For FHU, the ranged attack was beneficial with Powell tallying another at 5:21 before
Jordan Stephens, Dean, and
Jayson Nixon's 3-pointers helping give FHU their largest lead at intermission at 37-29. It was the FHU bench that proved the difference-makers in the first half. With every statistical category nearly even after the first 20 minutes, the Lion's bench scored 21 points to Life's nine.
The Life (9-4) team came out the locker room white hot by scoring 10 unanswered points to start the half and forcing an FHU timeout after claiming the lead 40-39. Triples from
Peyton Law and Nixon would put the score back in favor of the Lions, but during the game, the Lions and the Running Eagles swapped leads six times and drew even three times.
Phil Horton's old-fashioned three-point play at 7:54 save the Lions the lead for the final time before a thunderous dunk from
Geraldo Lane lit a fire under the Lions who would score seven unanswered points to jump to a 70-61 advantage. Chaze Harris and Tyreke Johnson were the only Running Eagles to score the rest of the game, but they kept Life within two possessions the remainder of the game including a set of free throws making the score 80-78 with 19 seconds to go. Thankfully for FHU, Nixon, Stephens, and Law were able to hit their free throws late to put ice on the 85-80 victory.
The the turnover battle was close - FHU forcing 15 turnovers while committing 11 - the Lions took advantage of those giveaways, scoring 20 points off of turnovers while Life managed four. Again the Lion's depth paid dividends with FHU's bench bucketing 46 points to Life's 18.
Phil Horton was the leading scorer for the Lions, going 6-7 from the free-throw line to score 14. Right behind him was
Sam Powell who went 3-7 from deep to score 13.
Peyton Law extended his double-digit point streak to nine with 10 points. Law has scored 10+ points in 13 of FHU's 14 games. Horton and Law both grabbed five rebounds while
Jordan Stephens had six assists in the win.
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Up Next
The end of 2024 will be one of the toughest stretches of the year as the Lions will visit No. 13 Central Baptist (Ark.) on December 17 before hosting No. 21 Keiser (Fla.)Â on December 31. The Lions and the CBC Mustangs needed two overtimes to determine a victor in the first battle this season with FHU emerging victorious. The New Year's Eve battle with the Seahawks being the first-ever meeting.
