BMC Athletics
Brett Fowler, Sports Information Director
BLUE MOUNTAIN, Miss. – (Box Score) Blue Mountain dropped its third straight game here Monday in a non-conference loss to Freed-Hardeman, 75-61.
The Toppers were without several players once again and had to rely on a slower offense against the deep Freed-Hardeman bench.
In the first, Blue Mountain would lead 19-13 at the 9:35 mark before the Lions hit their stride.
Freed’s Luka Filipovic took over the game and drilled 13 points in the first half, helping his team to a 42-28 lead at the break.
The Toppers made a game of it in the second half, cutting the Lion lead to just five, but Freed-Hardeman’s bench depth was too much for the Toppers.
Wanya King led the Lions with 15 points, followed by Filipovic and Jon Moore who had 13 apiece.
Aleksa Vujadinovic (JR/Niksic, Montenegro) led Blue Mountain with a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Brandon Williams (JR/Dyersburg, Tenn.) had 14 points and Exavian Young (SR/Memphis, Tenn.) had 13.
Freed would shoot 41 percent from the floor on the night, while the Toppers shot 33 percent.
Both teams went cold beyond three as Freed was 6-of-29 and Blue Mountain was 4-of-21.
“Our guys played hard tonight against a team that’s probably top 25 in the nation,” BMC head coach Jermael Bingham said. “We were in it up until the last few minutes. We scrapped with only seven players, so I can’t be too upset about that. We’re looking forward to the break so we can get our feet back under us.”
BMC (3-6) will open SSAC play after Christmas with a January 8 date against No. 16 Loyola in New Orleans, La. at 7 p.m.