Lions win fourth in a row with 104-60 rout of Blue Mountain

The Freed-Hardeman Lions continued to make their case to get back into the NAIA's Top 25, winning their fourth straight game after downing Blue Mountain (Miss.) College, 104-60, on Monday night in the Sports Center.

Freed-Hardeman, which received 13 votes in today's national poll, is now tied for second place in the conference with Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) and a half-game behind Union (Tenn.) for the top spot.

As they did two days ago against Mid-Continent (Ky.), the Lions exploded in the second half. Tonight, FHU led at halftime (44-33) but the Toppers were able to get within seven points early in the second half before the Lions caught fire.

After BMC's Mike Chatham made two free throws to make the score 48-41 with 17:05 to play, FHU (12-7, 5-1) took control by outscoring the Toppers 27-5 over the next eight minutes to turn a close game into a comfortable lead. The Lions made 11-of-16 shots during that stretch, including five 3-pointers.

The trend continued for the remainder of the game. After the Toppers got five unanswered points to make the score 79-55, FHU finished by outscoring BMC 25-5 in the game's final 7:18.

The Lions knocked down a season-high 15 3-pointers in the game, marking the fourth straight game in which FHU has connected on 10 or more from beyond the arc. Freed-Hardeman is 7-0 this season when making 10 or more 3-pointers. The Lions also out-rebounded the Toppers, 47-31.

Ken Bingham led all scorers with 24 points, while Jesse Moulton and Kyle Teichmann each had 15. Jonathan Milewski added a career-high 11 points and Zack Frey rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points, all of which came in the first half. Anthony Sampson posted his second straight game with double digits in assists, dishing out 10 tonight. The sophomore is averaging 7.1 assists per game over FHU's last seven contests.

The Lions also kept Renell Collins, BMC's leading scorer, in check. Collins, who was averaging 29.2 points per game in conference play entering tonight, was limited to nine points.

The Lions return to the floor on Thursday as they travel to face Lyon (Ark.) College at 8:00 PM.