HENDERSON — Needing a victory to secure the Mid-South Conference regular season crown, the No. 1 Freed-Hardeman University Lions got the win and then some. Pushing their program-record win streak to 22 games, the Lions defeated the Lindsey Wilson Blue Raiders on Thursday, 87-56.
Though it was Lindsey Wilson that recorded the first bucket of the game, the Lions (25-1, 10-0 MSC) were on fire from both ends of the floor, scoring 22 points while holding the Blue Raiders scoreless for 6:48. During that run,
Blake Dean and
Rico Sain each connected for two 3-pointers while
DJ McIntyre's dunk at 12:11 put the Lions on top 22-3. The Blue Raiders finally got on the board again, but
Phil Horton's jumper and Dean's third triple of the half pushed FHU's early lead to 22 points. While the Blue Raiders managed points on back-to-back trips down the floor, the Lions would add nine unanswered points in the last three minutes with
Jailen Anderson's layup giving FHU a 30-point edge in the first half. Late baskets from both squads set the halftime score at 44-16 in favor of the Lions.
Lindsey Wilson (17-8, 5-4 MSC) hoped to chip away at the large lead from long range, with the Blue Raiders connecting for five 3-pointers in the first eight minutes of the second half. The Lions would answer each trey with one of their own. Sain, Anderson, and Dean were joined by
Caleb Thomas and
Rodney Henderson with 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes.
Cam Hudson's dunk at 7:02 pushed the Lions' lead to 31 points, with
Aidan Farber and
Cade Walker getting productive minutes with each sinking a 3-pointer until
Eli Pounders' layup set the final score at 87-56.
FHU shot 52% from the floor while holding Lindsey Wilson to 30%. FHU connected for 13 3-pointers while out-rebounding the opposition 39-35.
Ten different Lions recorded points in the victory, with
Blake Dean going 5-for-8 from long range while
Rico Sain was 7-for-9 from the floor to each tally a team-high 17 points.
Phil Horton led at the window with eight rebounds while
Rodney Henderson had a team-high four assists.
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Up Next
With the No. 1 seed in the upcoming MSC tournament, the Lions will ride out the regular season with two more home games. They first celebrate the seniors on February 14 against Campbellsville before concluding the regular season on February 19 against Cumberland.
