CONWAY, Ark. — Though the first meeting required two overtimes to determine a winner, Tuesday's meeting between the No. 3 Freed-Hardeman Lions and the No. 13 Central Baptist (Ark.) College Mustangs was another thriller. Though it was determined in regulation, the Lions claimed their second victory over CBC this season with an 89-84 win.
Peyton Law continued his strong play for the Lions (14-1) by knocking down the first two layups of the game. The Lions were never able to take a comfortable lead, but the Mustangs were unable to take a lead in the first five minutes until a jumper at 13:35 gave CBC a 12-10 lead. The Lions were able to take back over a few minutes later when
Jayson Nixon drained a 3-pointer to take an 18-16 lead. Law then scored five straight points before
Geraldo Lane's layup gave the Lions their largest lead of the half at seven with a 25-18 edge with 9:04 remaining. As the did in the first game in Henderson, the Mustangs stayed close with 3-pointers with one a 1:17 giving the Mustangs a lead. Lane would sink a layup in the final seconds to end the first half in a 40-40 stalemate.
Nixon swung momentum to FHU's bench when he opened the half with a 3-pointer. A pair of triples from Central Baptist (11-3) kept the game within one possession until
Ryley McClaran scored a layup and a 3-pointer to open up an 11-0 run to give the Lions a double-figure lead at 68-57 with 9:41 remaining in the game.
Jordan Stephens and
Blake Dean joined McClaran with timely 3-pointers before Law's layup at 4:33 gave the Lions their largest lead at 14 with an 81-67 lead. That proved to be the last basket from the floor for the Lions with the last eight FHU points coming from the charity stripe to secure the 89-84 victory.
Most statistical categories were close, with the Lions out-rebounding the Mustangs 44-39. FHU's bench again paid off with 38 bench points to CBC's 10. Additionally, FHU's size helped lead them to 52 points in the paint to the Mustangs' 34.
Ryley McClaran led the Lion offense with 16 points followed by
Peyton Law's 15-point effort in the win.
Phil Horton and
Jordan Stephens teamed up to score 12 points each.
Makai Vassell joined Horton for the team's lead with eight rebounds while
Geraldo Lane led with four assists.
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Up Next
The Lions will enjoy the Christmas break before hosting the No. 21 Keiser (Fla.) University Seahawks for a New Year's Eve meeting with a 3:00 p.m. start.
