ST. LOUIS – [BOX SCORE] Freed-Hardeman withstood a late run from Missouri Baptist Monday night to walk away victorious 88-79. The Spartans couldn't complete the comeback after trimming a 15-point second half deficit to a single point.

Hot-shooting from the Lions (14-6, 10-3 AMC) helped the road team prevail. Freed shot 52.9 percent overall and 47.8 percent from 3-point range. Those numbers dipped just a bit in the second half to pave way for an MBU comeback.

A Jake Terry bucket at the 13:45 mark started the Spartan run and cut the deficit to 13 points. Terry answered a Freed basket with two more points the next possession and a Pablo Hernandez triple later made it a 66-56 game. Hernandez had a game-high 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting including three 3-pointers.

After the Lions weathered the storm a bit, another Hernandez 3-pointer three minutes later got MBU within five points, 70-65. Between the 9:08 mark of the three and 7:44 on the clock the deficit dwindled to a single point at 72-71. James McKelvin had a boisterous crowd-pleasing dunk during the middle of it.

MBU had multiple chances to tie or take the lead, but couldn't get over the hump. A late 10-0 run from Freed-Hardeman quickly turned a two-point deficit to double digits with 1:32 remaining. The Lions finished the game from there for conference win number 10.

Trevor Randolph led the Lions with 15 points on five 3-pointers. FHU finished the game 11-of-23 from distance. Fitzgerald Hopkins had 14 points for the road team. Jared White, Luke Call and Johnny Benson all finished the night with 11 points. Will Harrington added in 10 points and eight assists. MBU shot 47.5 percent as a team.

The Spartans return to Lacey Gym on Thursday to face the William Woods Owls. Tip is set for 7:30 pm.