HENDERSON — Despite a slow start for the No. 2 Freed-Hardeman University men's basketball team, the Lions were able to erase a 13-point deficit to defeat the Marian (Ind.) University Knights 76-75 in the season opener.
The Lions (0-1) wanted to deal damage from long range with their first three shots coming from beyond the arc, but were unsuccessful. Meanwhile, the Knights made 8 of their first 11 shots, including a run where they made six straight shots without a miss. A 9-0 run by the visitors put the Lions down 22-9 with 12:18 remaining in the first half. Then the Lions made a run of their own, outscoring Marian 15-1 across more than five minutes. In that timeframe,
Taveon Comage and
Rico Yarbrough each netted 3-pointers, with Yarbrough's bucket at 6:47 giving FHU their first lead of the contest. Neither team would lead by more than one possession the remainder of the opening half, with
Eli Pounders' buzzer-beating 3-pointer giving Freed-Hardeman a 37-35 edge at intermission.
Though
DJ McIntyre opened the second half with a layup, Marion (0-1) netted back-to-back triples to take a lead. A 3-pointer from
Blake Dean was followed by four points from
Cam Hudson and two from
Derrick Roberson to give the Lions their largest lead of the game at six points: 53-47. After trading a few buckets, the Knights scored six straight points from the charity strike to knight the score 61-61 with 6:05 left in the game. Neither team would lead by more than three points for the remainder of the game. After Roberson's jumper tied the game in the final minute, it was down to free throws. Marian made one of their attempted two, while Comage made both of his free throws with 23 seconds left to be the difference. Hudson grabbed a defensive rebound before a desperation 3-pointer from Marian rattled out to help the Lions escape with the 76-75 victory.
The Lions show 40% from the field, including an 8-30 mark from long range. FHU forced 20 Marian turnovers, turning those into 18 points. Throughout the game there were 11 toes and 15 different lead changes.
Rico Yarbrough led all scorers with 21 points, going 6-12 from the floor, followed by
Taveon Comage with 14 points.
Eli Pounders scored 10 points while
Derrick Roberson pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.
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Up Next
The Lions will battle the Bobcats of St. Thomas (Fla.) University at home on October 30 with a 12:00 p.m. tipoff.
