COLUMBIA, Ky. --- The Life University men's basketball team finished the regular season on a high note this evening, traveling to Mid-South Conference foe Lindsey Wilson and leaving with a 70-62 victory.
Life U (9-19, 5-17 MSC) found themselves in an early deficit in Lindsey Wilson's (11-19, 4-18 MSC) gym, not taking their first lead of the contest until a
Jordan Hernandez deep ball put them up 14-12 with 13:10 to play in the half. The first half continued to be streaky as the Blue Raiders went on an eight point run to retake the lead, which was answered by 13-1 run by the Running Eagles that
Dara Olonade emphatically punctuated with a strong dunk. A
Chris Barnes jumper boosted the lead to ten shortly before the half, while Lindsey Wilson hit on a single shot from the charity stripe to give a halftime score of 36-27.
The second half opened looking like it was going to continue the streakiness of the first, Lindsey Wilson going on a run to take a 39-38 lead with 16:05 to play. Life U quickly retook the advantage and never gave it back to the Blue Raiders. A Hernandez three pointer and Barnes layup in the midpoint of the second saw the edge grow to its largest of the game at 54-42. The teams maintained pace the rest of the competition, Life U never allowing Lindsey Wilson to truly make a push to get back into things, winning 70-62.
Hernandez led the way for the Running Eagles in the competition, recording a double-double with 18 points on an incredibly efficient 6-for-8 shooting from deep and 10 rebounds. C. Barnes and
Cam Horton both recorded 14 points, Barnes getting close to a double-double of his own as he dished out a season-best seven assists. The final double-digit scorer was
Nathan Presnell with 12 points.
Life U had an excellent night shooting the ball, hitting on 50% from the floor and 56.3% from deep compared to Lindsey Wilson's 42.2% and 33.3%. The Running Eagles did a good job of capitalizing on Lindsey Wilson mistakes, leading on points off turnovers 16-7. Life U trailed slightly in rebounds 25-24.
The men next turn to the Mid-South Conference Tournament, playing their first contest in the 10-seed versus 7-seed match at Shawnee State early next week.
