KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The top-seeded Freed-Hardeman University Lions trailed the No. 4 seed Northwestsern (Iowa) College Red Raiders a majority of 39:14. But those final 46 seconds were all that the Lions needed to emerge victorious over the Red Raiders, 74-72, to advance to the quarterfinal round of the 2026 NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship.
Neither the Lions (32-1) nor the Red Raiders made a basket from the floor until Northwestern's 3-pointer at 15:41 set the score at 6-2 in favor of Northwestern.
DJ McIntyre sank a 3-pointer to spark a seven-point swing for FHU that ended with FHU leading 16-14 at 9:45, but the Red Raiders were able to make nine straight shots with a 3-pointer at 1:55 giving NWC a 12-point lead.
Phil Horton made four free throws in the last minute of the first half, but the Red Raiders held the 42-35 advantage at intermission.
Rico Sain's defense helped out the Lions at the start of the second half, getting a deal and a score on the second possession of the half; however, the Red Raiders (28-6) continued to find the hoop with back-to-back 3-pointers. At 7:59, the Lions found themselves trailing by 16 points with their season on the line.
Rodney Henderson began the comeback with a 3-pointer to spark a seven-point swing for FHU.
Lane Lauderbaugh's layup made the deficit single digits while Henderson scored seven of the next eight points, but it was McIntyre's 3-pointer at 2:14 that knotted the round of 16 game 68-68. The Red Raiders would jump out to a two-point lead with a pair of free-throws, but an old-fashioned three-point play from
Phil Horton gave FHU the lead with 46 seconds to go. Henderson's free throw made it a two-point game before
Jamarcus Powell swatted away the potential game-tying layup to help the Lions advance to the quarterfinal round with a 74-72 victory.
FHU shot 36% from the floor while NWC were 51% - including nine 3-pointers. The Lions defense was the difference-maker with FHU forcing 21 turnovers and converting those to 20 points. FHU had 15 steals in the win while the Red Raiders had five.
Phil Horton led FHU's scoring with 21 points while
Lane Lauderbaugh and
Rodney Henderson each chipped in with 15.
DJ McIntyre tallied 11 points in the victory. Lauderbaugh was a rebound shy of a double-double with a team-high nine.
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Up Next
The Lions will watch the last game of the day to determine their quarterfinal opponent with a meeting with the winner of Arizona Christian University and the Georgetown Tigers set for March 21 at 2:30 p.m.
