KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — In their first game with their new ranking, the No. 2 Freed-Hardeman University Lions battled the Johnson (Tenn.) University Royals in their final game of the 2025 calendar year. Despite a comeback bid by the hosts, the Lions emerged victorious 73-62.
Freed-Hardeman (14-1) recorded their first point with a
Jailen Anderson free throw before
Caleb Thomas drained a 3-pointer to take an early lead. After Johnson tacked on a pair of jumpers,
Blake Dean took over for FHU, scoring five points in a minute to give the Lions an 11-6 lead.
DJ McIntyre would tally a triple of his own to help FHU continue a 14-1 run to put the Lions on top 20-7 with 13:35 left in the opening half. The Royals began to chip away at the lead with the long ball, connecting for four 3-pointers over the next five minutes to pull within one point. The Lions closed the first half with jumpers from
Rodney Henderson and
Jamarcus Powell to head to the locker room with a 32-24 lead.
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The strong FHU defense held Johnson (4-9) scoreless for the first 3:07 in the second half without allowing a made field goal until the clock read 15:31. Meanwhile,
Phil Horton and
Rico Sain joined Anderson and Thomas with buckets to storm to a 43-24 edge.
Sam Powell scored six straight points before Horton's jumper at 10:12 gave the Lions their largest lead at 22 points. After that, Johnson would go on a 17-4 run to narrow the FHU lead to single digits at 64-55. In the final five minutes, FHU tallied seven free throws to keep the lead intact and claim victory 73-62.
The FHU defense forced 24 Johnson turnovers while only coughing the ball up themselves nine times. The Lions had 14 steals to go with their 11 assists.
Phil Horton paced the Lions offense with 15 points with
Blake Dean following with 10.
Rodney Henderson led with seven assists while
Jailen Anderson had six helpers.
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Up Next
The Lions have one more non-conference tuneup against the Faulkner (Ala.) University Eagles on January 3 before hosting the No. 16 Georgetown Tigers on January 8 and the No. 3 Cumberlands Patriots on January 10.
