KANSAS CITY - The Freed-Hardeman Lions will have to wait another year to get their first win at the national tournament.
Turnovers and fouls plagued the Lions, as No. 15 FHU dropped a heartbreaking overtime decision to Rocky Mountain (Mont.) College, 78-77, in the first round of the NAIA National Tournament at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City. Freed-Hardeman turned the ball over 25 times and was whistled for 29 fouls, compared to 12 for RMC. As a result, Rocky Mountain made 34 trips to the free throw line while the Lions shot just 13.
Freed-Hardeman's season ends at 24-10, one win shy of the program record of 25 wins set in 2001-02. It was the program's first trip to the national tournament since 1998, when the Lions fell in the opening round.
Jesse Moulton got the Lions off to a quick start, hitting 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to trigger a 12-5 run to open the game. FHU continued to push ahead, using a 10-0 run early in the half to build a 26-11 lead. Later, the Lions would extend the advantage to 17 (36-19) but Rocky Mountain closed the half on an 11-3 run to trim FHU's advantage to 39-30 at halftime.
The second half got off to a good start, with FHU taking a 13 point lead (48-35) with 16:35 left. But then the Lions went ice cold from the floor, going eight minutes without a field goal. The Battlin' Bears took advantage, going on a 19-1 run to take a 56-51 lead with 7:17 to play. FHU had led the entire game until Nate Richardson's layup at the 12:10 mark gave RMC a 50-49 advantage.
After a Zack Frey basket, Shun Trevillian converted a rare four-point play after drilling a 3-pointer and a free throw to allow FHU to retake the lead at 57-56 with 6:29 left. Neither team led by more than three for the remainder of regulation.
Moulton drilled another 3-pointer with 1:13 left to put FHU ahead, 68-65. The Lions forced a miss on the other end by Rocky Mountain kept possession by grabbing one of their 18 offensive rebounds, and tied the game on a Chase Sukut 3-pointer with 30 seconds remaining. Freed-Hardeman played for the last shot but was unable to get one off as the game went to overtime.
FHU never led in overtime as Rocky Mountain continued to get to the foul line. The Battlin' Bears shot as many free throws in the extra period (13) as the Lions did in the entire game.
Freed-Hardeman still had a chance, trailing 76-74 with 10 seconds remaining with Devin Uskoski on the line. Uskoski missed both free throws but his second miss was tipped out to mid-court into the hands of Sukut, who made both of his free throws after being fouled. Trevillian made a 3-pointer as time expired to cut the final deficit to 78-77.
Frey led all scores with 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Trevillian added 16 while Moulton dropped 12 and Wesley Mayes contributed 11.
It was the final game in the careers of FHU's four seniors: Trevillian, Mayes, Kristoffer Smith, and Tyler Jennings. In their first two years, the Lions were 20-44. In their last two, they have helped lead Freed-Hardeman to a 44-21 record and into a re-emergence on the national scene.
"When we got here four years ago, we wanted to build our program to have an opportunity to play at the national level," said FHU head coach Jason Shelton. "We were able to do that. Those four guys and Mike [McCutchen, another senior whose career was cut short by a knee injury] have worked hard."
