By FHU Sports Information Director Dustin Semore
Despite an early 15-2 lead, the No. 8 Freed-Hardeman University Lions fended off the Bluefield (Va.) University Rams’ late comeback, claiming their season’s seventh victory 73-66.
It was a tale of two wildly different starts with Freed-Hardeman (7-2) making four of their first five shots compared to Bluefield coming up empty on their day’s first six shots from the floor. JJ Wheat and Geraldo Lane teamed up to score nine unanswered points before Grigorii Sibilev’s layup gave FHU the 15-2 lead. Phil Horton and Devin Tomlinson would jump in to help give the Lions their largest lead of the afternoon of 16 points at 8:22. FHU would then freeze from the floor, missing their last seven field goal attempts in the first half. Meanwhile, Bluefield did not fare much better down the stretch, also going 0-7; however, late free throws and a pair of layups narrowed the halftime differential to 30-23 in favor of the Lions.
FHU’s shooting woes continued out of the locker room, missing their first four shots while the Rams (2-5) tallied three consecutive layups to set the score at 30-29 a minute and a half into the second frame. Peyton Law was able to break FHU’s 0-11 run with a layup at 17:55, but Bluefield completed the comeback with a dunk at 17:11 giving the Rams their first lead of the game at 33-32. The lead proved to only last for one possession as Hunter Scurlock converted a three-point play before Wheat and Dalton Colbert knocked down 3-pointers. Freed-Hardeman would keep Bluefield at arms’ length the rest of the game, eventually hitting late free throws to claim victory 73-66.
The Lions managed to grab 10 steals while forcing 12 turnovers, converting those to 19 points. FHU had great ball movement, doling out 14 assists to Bluefield’s five.
Geraldo Lane and JJ Wheat led the Lion offense, bucketing 16 points each. Lane was 6-10 from the floor while Wheat was 9-14 from the free-throw line. Phil Horton tallied 13 points and grabbed six rebounds.
