Score: Life U 48, St. Thomas 59
Records: Life U, 7-2 (2-0 SSAC); St. Thomas, 4-5 (0-3 SUN)
KINGSPORT, Tenn. — The Life University men's basketball team dropped its second-straight contest on Saturday afternoon, falling to the Bobcats of St. Thomas. The contest took place at the eleventh annual "The Show" NAIA Basketball Showcase in Kingsport, Tenn.
The contest opened back and forth, with Maurice Wright and Baqi Lecky trading buckets with the Bobcats. Neither team was able to claim a large lead as strong defense kept the scoring low through the first two media timeouts. Trailing 11-9 at the halfway point of the half, layups from Shane Stevensen and Brashon Hall gave the Running Eagles squad its first lead of the contest with 07:26 left to play.
However, the lead was short lived as St. Thomas caught fire over the next seven minutes. The Bobcats closed the first half on a 20-5 run, carrying an 18-point lead into the break. Life U struggled from the floor, with Hall leading the team with five points while just five Running Eagles added to the score column.
Out of the break, both defenses continued the strong play as the scoring was slow. A Josh Baugher layup, followed by back-to-back scores from Stevensen gave Life U hope midway through the half. However, the deficit was never cut to single digits and St. Thomas regained control of the contest shortly after.
The Running Eagles managed to cut the lead to single-digits, 46-55, following a Hall layup with 03:56 to go. However, nine was as low as the deficit would go as the Bobcats quickly moved the lead back to double-digits before closing out the contest, 59-48.
TURNING POINT:
--St. Thomas closed the final six minutes of the first half on a 20-5 run, leaving Life U trailing 36-18 at the break.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
--The Running Eagles struggled from the floor in the first half, shooting just 26.7% from the floor.
--Life U shot 5-25 from three.
STANDOUT PERFORMANCES:
--Brashon Hall: 16 points, 4 rebounds, 5 steals
--Shane Stevensen: 13 points, 5 rebounds
--Baqi Lecky: 2 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals
UP NEXT:
--Life U remains at The Show, taking on Pikeville at the neutral site on Sunday, Nov. 30.
