MARIETTA, Ga. --- Chris Barnes provided a heroic performance and the Running Eagles bounced back to take a late lead, but a last second buzzer beater by Shawnee State handed the Running Eagles a Mid-South Conference loss, 80-77, Thursday night in the Eagles Nest.

The first 10 minutes of the game were played very evenly, Life U (5-13, 2-11 MSC) and Shawnee State (12-9, 6-8 MSC) trading leads in a very physical game. With 8:31 left to play in the half, the Running Eagles retook the lead, 21-20, after Kyonze Chavis splashed in a shot from just beyond the arc, but the Bears came back, starting to create distance. Chris Barnes poked out a ball down in the post and quickly took it coast to coast, cutting towards the rim to bring the Running Eagles back to a 37-31 deficit, but high efficiency shooting from Shawnee State saw Life U enter the break down 42-33.

Over the first 11 minutes of the second half, Life U maintained pace with Shawnee State, never truly falling out of contention, but never managing to cut into the deficit. After a first half that saw many near misses, Jordan Hernandez started to find his shot connecting on his first made three ball to pull the Running Eagles within eight at 58-50 with 12:09 to play. Another shot from beyond the arc acted as the turning point in Life U getting back into the game, an unguarded Champ Dawson nailing a three with 9:05 to play from the key to bring the Running Eagles to the closest deficit they had to that point in the half at 62-56. With the game in the balance and the clock starting to dwindle, Barnes proved clutch, scoring 11 of the last 21 points for the Running Eagles. One of Hernandez's three second half three pointers gave the Running Eagles a 72-70 lead late, but Life U could not hold on. With the game tied 77-77, a Shawnee State player connected on a corner three to give the Bears a lead with just two seconds to play. Life U turned the ball over on tthe ensuing inbound to lose, 80-77.

Barnes put up his best scoring performance in his Running Eagle career, posting a game-high 26 on a nice 12-for-18 shooting to go with his five rebounds and two steals. Chavis followed him with a season game of his own, recording 17 points, six boards, and four assists. Hernandez was the final player to break into double-digit scoring with 11 to go with five rebounds, four assists, and a game-high three steals.

Both teams shot well in the contest, but the Bears held an advantage in all three categories, leading overall shooting percentage 50.9% to 46.3%, three point percentage 39.1% to 27.6%, and free throw percentage 88.2% to 58.3%. Life U did a good job converting the 20 turnovers they forced Shawnee State in to 25 points, leading the stat 25-11. The Running Eagles held a slight advantage in paint scoring, 40-32, but trailed in rebounds 36-29.

The Running Eagles stay home this weekend, facing No. 7 Thomas More this Saturday in the Eagles Nest at 4 PM.