Grenadiers Fall To No. 21 Freed-Hardeman In NAIA First Round

HENDERSON, Tenn. – The IU Southeast men's basketball team saw a stellar season end with a 65-57 loss in the First Round of the 2023 NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship, presented by Ballogy.

Both defenses clamped down to start the contest and the first points of the game were not scored until the 17:17 mark of the half when the Grenadiers' Christian Stewart scored.

A three-pointer by Hunter Scurlock extended the Freed-Hardeman lead to 13-8 but the Grenadiers responded with an 11-0 run to take a 19-13 lead. They held the Lions without a field goal for seven minutes in the first half.

Lane Lauderbaugh hit a jumper and then connected on a three-pointer to spark the run.

Anthony Wales Jr. scored on a consecutive possessions to give IU Southeast a 27-19 lead and two Jocobi Hendricks free-throws extended the lead to 29-21.

IU Southeast led 29-23 at halftime. Christian Stewart had a game-high eight points and seven rebounds in the first half for IU Southeast.

In the second half the IU Southeast offense went cold. The Grenadiers shot 36 percent from the field and were just 3-of-11 from three-point range.

Caleb Brown hit a three-pointer to push the IU Southeast lead to 34-26 three minutes into the second half but the Lions scored eight of the next 11 points to cut the deficit to 37-34 with 11:54 left.

Back-to-back layups by Scurlock and a tip-in by Brandon Thomas gave Freed-Hardeman the 45-43 lead with 6:33 to play.

Glenn Hill tied the game but a layup and then a three-pointer by Zach Baugher put the Lions in front 50-45.

Anthony Wales Jr. answered with a three-pointer to cut the lead to two with 4:30 left.

He hit two free-throws pull the Grenadiers with five at 55-50 with 2:57 to go but a layup and then three-pointer by JaQuan Lax extended the lead to 58-50 with 1:34 left.

Wales hit two more free-throws to make it a two possession game at 58-52 but a long three-pointer by Phil Horton sealed the game with a 62-52 lead with 40 seconds left.

The Grenadiers were just 2-of-10 from the field in the final 4:30 of the game and did not make a field goal for more than three minutes in the second half as the Lion offense shut down the Grenadier pressure in the paint.

The Lions (24-8) only hit four three-pointers in the second half but they were timely shots to put the game out of reach.

In his final game,Anthony Wales Jr. had a game-high 18 points in the loss. Jocobi Hendricks, Glenn Hill and Christian Stewart each had eight points and Stewart added eight rebounds.