MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Resting for over a fortnight, the No. 2 Freed-Hardeman University Lions had their best night of shooting with a 58.7% field goal mark pushing them to a 91-69 victory over the Faulkner (Ala.) University Eagles.
Caleb Thomas got things going with a 3-pointer as the Lions (15-1) opened the contest without missing a beat, jumping ahead to a 25-7 lead after
Sam Powell's triple at 10:14 capped an 11-0 run.
Rico Sain tallied seven straight points to close FHU's scoring in the first half. Though that basket came at 2:58, the early lead was enough to stay comfortable going to intermission leading 43-32.
The Lions jumped out at the start of the second half with Powell's 3-pointer sparking another 11-point run that ended with FHU extending their lead to 20 points. Faulkner (10-5) swung momentum their way with an 11-1 run of their own that ended with the Lion lead whittled down to single digits at 12:09. Freed-Hardeman then pounded the paint to score 20 points in the key over the last seven minutes of the game to ride to a 91-69 win.
FHU forced 17 turnovers and turned that into 26 points. FHU had 60 points in the paint to double up Faulkner's total of 30.
Six Lions ended the night with double figures with
Phil Horton's double-double leading both the scoring (17) and the rebounding (11) for FHU.
Rico Sain added 14 points while
Rodney Henderson added 13.
Sam Powell tallied 12 points with
Jailen Anderson and
Caleb Thomas each recording 10 points.
Up Next
With Mid-South Conference action on the horizon, the Lions return to Henderson on January 8 to face the No. 16 Georgetown Tigers before a top-3 battle against the No. 3 Cumberlands Patriots on January 10.
