JACKSON, Tenn. - There were no last-second heroics from the Union (Tenn.) University Bulldogs today.
The Freed-Hardeman Lions kept the ball out of Brian Lake's hands in the final seconds, instead forcing center Greg Truvillion into missing a long 3-pointer as time expired, and FHU pulled off a 69-66 upset over the No. 5 team in the nation on their home floor.
Twice this month, Lake has made buzzer-beating shots to lift Union over Cumberland (Tenn.) University and Martin Methodist (Tenn.) College.
The Lions improve to 13-6 on the season and, more importantly, take sole possession of first place in the TranSouth Conference with a 5-1 record. Union drops to 14-4 and 4-1 in conference play.
Though neither team came out with a hot hand from the floor, Union was able to get to the foul line early and then built an early 16-6 lead on the heels of a 10-2 run that included a pair of 3-pointers by Matt Neaville. But the Lions hung around and closed the first half on a 16-5 run to take a 33-31 lead into the locker room.
FHU continued to hold the lead for much of the second half, extending it to seven points at 57-50 with 6:49 to play after a Zack Frey basket. But Union went on an 8-0 run, taking its first lead of the second half at 58-57, with 4:30 left to play.
What followed was a series of big plays by several different Lions.
Jesse Moulton drilled a fall-away 3-pointer off right wing to put the Lions back up by two, 60-58. After a defensive stop, Kristoffer Smith was on the receiving end of a hard foul while going to the basket and was unable to shoot the free throws. Sophomore Brian Pearson came off the bench to shoot for Smith, and made both shots to extend FHU's lead to four points.
Union's Martez Hawkins nailed a 3-pointer to pull Union within one point, but then Shun Trevillian answered for FHU on the next possession with a 3-pointer of his own to make it a 65-61 game with 1:27 left. Moulton was up next, making a pair of free throws after a Union score to keep FHU's lead at four.
Then it was the defense again, as the Lions collapsed on a driving Tacuma Alexander and forced him into a travelling violation to regain possession. On the inbounds play, Trevillian threw a long pass to a streaking Moulton for a layup on the other end to extend FHU's lead to six points with under 20 seconds left.
The excitement wasn't over yet, though.
Hawkins quickly made another 3-pointer to make the score 69-66, and Frey missed the front end of a one-and-one with :11.8 left to give Union a chance to tie at the buzzer. But once again, the Lion defense stepped up, keeping Neaville and Lake from getting a shot off before Truvillion's miss ended the game.
Moulton led FHU with 16 points, while Trevillian added 14 and Frey followed with 12. Neaville led Union with 19 points. FHU shot 39.4 percent from the floor in the game but limited Union to just 36.7 percent shooting from the field and 23.1 percent from behind the arc.
The Lions get little rest as they travel to Batesville, Ark., on Monday to take on Lyon College at 8:00 PM.
