Sat, Feb 27, 2010 - [Men's Basketball]
HENDERSON, Tenn. - Zack Frey scored over 20 points for the third straight game, and the Freed-Hardeman Lions win 20 games for the third straight season following an 88-68 victory over Bethel (Tenn.) University on Saturday afternoon in the final game of the regular season.
The win leaves FHU (20-10, 12-4) tied for second place in the TranSouth Conference with Mid-Continent (Ky.) University. MCU, however, holds the tiebreaker and will receive the No. 2 seed in next week's conference tournament.
The Lions led for nearly the entire game as Bethel only found itself ahead twice, both times by one point early in the first half. FHU went on a 12-1 run following the Wildcats' second lead to go ahead 22-12 with 10:35 in the half. Bethel scored the game's next seven points before the Lions again pulled back ahead by double digits and took a 44-34 lead into halftime.
The Wildcats pulled back within six points on two occasions early in the second half, but a 14-4 run by FHU gave the Lions a 58-42 lead with 14:22 to play. Seven minutes later, Freed-Hardeman put the game away with an 11-0 run that made the score 73-52.
Frey led all scorers with 23 points while Ken Bingham added 18. Jesse Moulton rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points. Vincent Barnes finished one point shy of a double-double, scoring nine and grabbing a career-high 10 rebounds. Point guards Kirtiss Brown and Anthony Sampson did their jobs well, combining for 11 assists against only three turnovers.
With the win, the Lions have won 20 games for the third straight season, something that hasn't been accomplished since the 1999-2000 through 2001-02 seasons.
FHU will host a quarterfinal game in the TranSouth Conference tournament on Thursday at 7:00 PM. Brackets should be released later this weekend.
