MARIETTA, Ga. --- After taking an early, first half lead the Life University men's basketball team never looked back, dominating in the paint to finish the Ken Woods Memorial Classic with a 97-83 victory in front of a home crowd over Southeastern Baptist today in the Eagles Nest.

Finding themselves down six points, 8-2, early in the contest, Cam Horton broke away on a fast break score to pull momentum over to the Life U side, the team scoring nine straight to take a lead with 15:15 left in the half they would never relinquish. The Running Eagles slowly pulled away from the Chargers over the course of the half, Kyonze Chavis and Nathan Presnell combining for 21 points over the period on an efficient 9-for-13 shooting as the team took a 49-42 lead into the break. The Chargers cut the lead to three points early in the second half, but Life U responded, pushing the lead into double-digits, 62-52, following a Horton layup with 14:24 to go in the game. The Running Eagles' largest lead came with 8:39 left in the contest after a Champ Dawson basket in the paint moved the lead to 79-61. With a strong lead in hand, the team steered the game to a 97-83 victory as the final buzzer sounded.

Southeastern Baptist finished the game shooting 29-for-71 (40.8%) from the floor, while connecting on 5-for-13 (38.5%) and 20-for-33 (60.6%) from deep and the charity stripe, respectively. The Chargers got a great deal of support from their bench, non-starters providing 35 of the team's 83 points, while also doing well with fast break points (12) and second chance baskets (18). The team's largest lead was six points and came just over two minutes into the first half.

As a team, Life U shot at a high clip from the floor, hitting on 38-for-69 (55.1%) shooting, and added 8-for-24 (33.3%) from behind the arc and 13-for-19 (68.4%) on free throws. The Running Eagles dominated in the paint, posting 56 points, while also doing a good job on scoring off turnovers with 14. The team's largest lead was 18 points with 8:39 left in the contest.

Presnell had the best game of his career as a Running Eagle, leading the team from the post, scoring 27 points and picking up 10 rebounds for a double-double. Other double-digit scorers for the Life U were Cam Horton and Jordan Hernandez. Horton posted 14 points to go with three boards and four assists, while Hernandez provided 13 points and six rebounds.

The Running Eagles play an exhibition game at Austin Peay next, on November 4th at 8:30 PM, while the next countable contest will be a home tilt against Brewton-Parker November 12th at 7 PM.