McKENZIE, Tenn. --- Chris Barnes kept up his recent streak of offensive dominance and freshman Dara Olonade had a breakout performance, helping the Life University men's basketball team end its losing streak and earn their first Mid-South Conference win of the season tonight at Bethel (Tenn.).

Life U (4-7, 1-5 MSC) broke the losing streak that had been haunting it the past month on a gritty road performance, while Bethel (Tenn.) (9-5, 1-5 MSC) lost its footing in the second half. The first half was a back-and-forth affair with neither team scoring much through the early running, Jordan Hernandez giving Life U a 18-15 lead with 9:51 to go in the first following a three ball. The Wildcats retook the lead and maintained it through the remainder of the half, Cam Horton cutting into the lane and laying up a shot to cut the deficit to one at 34-33 to end the first half.

Life U claimed the game's momentum coming out of the break, the Running Eagles evening things at 35-35 after a Barnes layup and took the lead for good on the following possession with a Kenny Pittman, Jr. shot from behind the arc. After gaining the lead, Olonade put together a heroic performance to keep Life U on top, scoring 17 of his 19 points over the final 16 minutes of the game as the Running Eagles emphasized the paint in the second half to earn the win. The Life U lead expanded to as many as 10 points with 4:56 to play, but Bethel had a run left in them, cutting the lead to 65-63 with only 1:48 on the clock. The Running Eagles held on Barnes and Hernandez connecting on their free throws to give the team a 70-68 victory.

Barnes and Olonade were the standout performers for Life U, being top two scorers to take to the court tonight for either team. Barnes led all players with 22 points on an efficient 8-for-12 shooting, while Olonade's career best night of 19 points saw him explode for 17 in the second half alone. 

The Running Eagles had an uncharacteristic night from deep, only hitting three of the 19 they shot, but they more than made up for it by efficiently getting to the rim, shooting 27-for-56 (48.2%) overall and outdoing the Wildcats in paint scoring 26-14. Bethel connected on 27-for-61 (44.3%) from the floor and 6-for-16 (37.5%) from deep. 

Life U returns to action on December 30th at 2PM, playing Bryan College in a home contest.