By Dustin Semore
FHU Information Director
In front of a packed Brewer Sports Center, the No. 8 Freed-Hardeman University Lions treated the Homecoming crowd to a defensive showcase, with the Lions forcing 22 turnovers in a 78-54 victory over the Tougaloo (Miss.) College Bulldogs.
Devin Tomlinson opened up the scoring for the Lions (3-0) with a 3-pointer and, after JJ Wheat’s Layup, Peyton Law and Quan Lax sent the crowd into a frenzy when an alley-oop ended with Law slamming down a thunderous dunk and forcing a Tougaloo timeout leading 7-0. The timeout did the guests good, coming out of the breather with a pair of 3-pointers to eventually knot the game 10-10. After a pair of free throws gave the Bulldogs a slight edge, the Lions would score 10 unanswered points, led by Hunter Scurlock’s scoop and score turning into three points after hitting the and-one. Dalton Colbert’s 3-pointer gave FHU an eight-point edge midway through the half with a 23-15 lead. The Lions kept scoring in bunches, after seeing Tougaloo pick up a set of points, Wheat sparked a 7-0 run to extend the lead to 33-20. Tougaloo; however, put momentum on their side to end the half. In the final four minutes, the Bulldogs out-scored FHU 11-2 to end the half trailing four with a 35-31 score.
Though ending the half on a high note, Tougaloo (1-1) quickly saw its fortunes reversed after the Lions began the half with seven unanswered points. After a Bulldog layup put FHU’s lead down to single digits, it proved to be the closest the visitors came to the FHU lead, with the Lions bucketing 13 unanswered points in a two-minute span. Phil Horton joined Wheat with back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Lions up 22 points with a 55-33 edge. Down the stretch, it was FHU’s free throw shooting that was the star. In the last 10 minutes of play, the Lions went 13-15 from the charity stripe. Lax’s free throw at 1:48 was the last FHU point but also gave the Lions their largest lead of the night at 27 points before late Bulldog buckets settled the score at 78-54.
FHU forced 22 turnovers, tallying 28 points from those turnovers, 21 of which were on the fast break. Good ball movement saw the Lions collect 14 assists to Tougaloo’s seven.
The Lions were led offensively by JJ Wheat’s 17-point night, while he also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Behind him were Peyton Law and Hunter Scurlock who each posted 11-point nights, with Devin Tomlinson chasing with 10 points. Quan Lax helped out the offense with a team-high four assists.
