BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — For the first time in the 27-year history of the Mid-South Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, the No. 5 Freed-Hardeman University Lions made it three titles in a row by defeating the No. 17 University of the Cumberlands Patriots 86-79.
As the No. 3 seed in the tournament the Lions (26-5) were playing their third game in as many days while the No. 1 seed Cumberlands had an extra day's rest due to their first-round bye. It was a back-and-forth start with each score answered by the opposing team with
Makai Vassell's layup at 13:42 made it a 9-9 score. After the Patriots answered, Freed-Hardeman went on to score the next eight points to jump out to a 17-11 lead. In the final 10 minutes of the half, FHU's defense allowed just three makes from the floor while all of FHU's points down the stretch came on field goals.
Jordan Stephens had a set of late layups before
Peyton Law's 3-pointer ended the first half with the Lions leading 30-25.
The Patriots (22-8) came out in the second frame with a 3-pointer to pull within two points. The MSC regular season champion Cumberlands stayed within two possessions of the Lions with a layup at 12:49 making it a 43-41 score in favor of the Lions.
Ryley McClaran tallied a layup before
Geraldo Lane blew the lid off of Bowling Green's Studle Financial Arena with a fast break dunk from outside the paint to help the Lions on a 9-0 run to take a 52-41 lead.
Blake Dean's 3-pointer at 5:36 gave the Lions their largest lead of 14. For the final five minutes of the championship game a majority of the scoring was done from the free-throw line with Law's 20th and 21st points coming from the charity stripe to seal the 86-79 championship victory.
The Lions were 30-58 from the floor to shoot 52% while UC was 22-64 with a 34% clip. Dominating the paint puts it lightly as FHU scored 50 points in the key while the Patriots scored 22.Â
Peyton Law and
Makai Vassell led the way with championship double-doubles. Law led the Lions with 21 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. Vassell had 11 each of points and rebounds.
Blake Dean chipped in with 12 points while
Jayson Nixon dropped 10.
Ryley McClaran helped the cause with six assists
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Up Next
Holding the MSC's automatic bid, the Lions will celebrate their third straight title until learning who will be visiting the Brewer Sports Center for the NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship First and Second Rounds. The selection show will be at 7:00 p.m. on March 6.
