Fairfield Lions suffer first SHAC loss of season against Eastern
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG - It wasn’t the night the Fairfield Lions wanted in their Southern Hills Athletic Conference matchup with the visiting Eastern Warriors at Grandle Gymnasium with first place in the standings on the line on Wednesday.
Though the Lions led by three points after the first quarter, Eastern grabbed ahold of the lead in the first minute of the second quarter and battled tough to not let the host Lions get the top spot for the remainder of the game, with Fairfield falling by a 64-54 score, and in the process falling to second place in the Division I standings of the conference in their first SHAC loss of the season.
Fairfield led by as many as nine points in the first quarter with a 5-0 lead early on as Tytis Cannon scored the first five points of the game, including a 3-pointer for the first point scored. Cannon led the Lions with 30 points, finishing with six 3-pointers, four two-point baskets and he was 4-of-5 from the free-throw line.
The Warriors came back with three points of their own off a shot from Christian Haskins, only to see the Lions answer with a 3-pointer by Reese Teeters, a free throw by Koben Zink and a jumper by Cannon for an 11-3 early onslaught by the Lions, forcing the Warriors to call a timeout. Teeters finished with nine points in the loss, while teammate Zink totaled seven points.
Following a huddle with head coach Rob Beucler, the Warriors picked up the pace of their game with a quick basket by Christian Amburgey, and following a 3-pointer by Fairfield’s Jon Bentley, the Warriors scored the next five points with a put-back by Amburgey and a 3-pointer from Haskins for a 14-10 score in favor of the Lions with 1:52 left in the quarter.
Cannon made two free throws for the Lions for a six-point Fairfield lead, but the Warriors scored six of the next eight points to end the quarter, with Fairfield still leading 19-16.
The Warriors took over the lead with a 7-0 run in a two-minute span to begin the second frame, with Amburgey tying the score at 19, followed by two made free throws by Luke Garrett, and a 3-pointer by Kade Walkup with 6:04 on the clock, giving Eastern a 24-19 lead.
Zink broke up the scoring run of the Warriors with two free-throw conversions, and Cannon followed with the same feat to get the Lions back to within a point of tying the visitors with 3:25 on the second-quarter clock.
Eastern added a 3-pointer and layup from Trent Hundley with 1:17 remaining in the first half for a 29-23 Warrior lead, forcing the Lions to call a timeout. Fairfield scored their lone basket from the field in the quarter with two points from Teeters, but in the final stages Eastern had Hundley knock down a trey for a seven-point Warrior lead at halftime at 32-25, with EHS outscoring the Lions 16-7 in the second quarter.
Eastern won the third frame at 16-12 as the Lions trailed by as many as 14 points in the frame, but by a 48-37 score at the end of the quarter. FHS began the quarter strong with a 3-pointer from Cannon and two points by Zink for a 32-30 deficit with 5:31 on the third-quarter clock, forcing the Warriors to call a timeout.
For the rest of the quarter — following the timeout by EHS — the Warriors outscored the Lions, 16-7, building an 11-point lead going into the fourth frame.
The Lions got to within four points of tying the score on two occasions at the 5:36 mark and 2:19 mark of the final frame, but the Warriors scored 12 points in the final 1:56 of the game, including going 8-of-8 from the free-throw line in the final 1:09 after the Lions were forced to foul.
For FHS in the fourth frame, they had eight points by Cannon (including two 3-pointers), six points by Zimmerman (including one 3-pointer) and two points each by Teeters and Zink.
Other final scoring totals for the Lions included Zimmerman (five points) and Bentley (three points). The Lions finished 7-of-12 from the free-throw line, while Eastern was 15-of-17.
Hundley led the Warriors in scoring with 21 points for the game, followed by Amburgey with 17 points and Garrett with 10 points, as he was a perfect 10-of-10 from the free-throw line. The rest of Eastern’s scoring included Walkup (six points), Haskins (six points) and Carter Vaughn (two points).
Next for the Lions is a home game against Fayetteville on Jan. 25. Their game against North Adams on Friday, Jan. 21 has been postponed.
The loss sends FHS to a SHAC mark of 6-1 and overall record of 8-4, while the Warriors are 7-1 in the SHAC and 9-3 overall.
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Though the Lions led by three points after the first quarter, Eastern grabbed ahold of the lead in the first minute of the second quarter and battled tough to not let the host Lions get the top spot for the remainder of the game, with Fairfield falling by a 64-54 score, and in the process falling to second place in the Division I standings of the conference in their first SHAC loss of the season.
Fairfield led by as many as nine points in the first quarter with a 5-0 lead early on as Tytis Cannon scored the first five points of the game, including a 3-pointer for the first point scored. Cannon led the Lions with 30 points, finishing with six 3-pointers, four two-point baskets and he was 4-of-5 from the free-throw line.
The Warriors came back with three points of their own off a shot from Christian Haskins, only to see the Lions answer with a 3-pointer by Reese Teeters, a free throw by Koben Zink and a jumper by Cannon for an 11-3 early onslaught by the Lions, forcing the Warriors to call a timeout. Teeters finished with nine points in the loss, while teammate Zink totaled seven points.
Following a huddle with head coach Rob Beucler, the Warriors picked up the pace of their game with a quick basket by Christian Amburgey, and following a 3-pointer by Fairfield’s Jon Bentley, the Warriors scored the next five points with a put-back by Amburgey and a 3-pointer from Haskins for a 14-10 score in favor of the Lions with 1:52 left in the quarter.
Cannon made two free throws for the Lions for a six-point Fairfield lead, but the Warriors scored six of the next eight points to end the quarter, with Fairfield still leading 19-16.
The Warriors took over the lead with a 7-0 run in a two-minute span to begin the second frame, with Amburgey tying the score at 19, followed by two made free throws by Luke Garrett, and a 3-pointer by Kade Walkup with 6:04 on the clock, giving Eastern a 24-19 lead.
Zink broke up the scoring run of the Warriors with two free-throw conversions, and Cannon followed with the same feat to get the Lions back to within a point of tying the visitors with 3:25 on the second-quarter clock.
Eastern added a 3-pointer and layup from Trent Hundley with 1:17 remaining in the first half for a 29-23 Warrior lead, forcing the Lions to call a timeout. Fairfield scored their lone basket from the field in the quarter with two points from Teeters, but in the final stages Eastern had Hundley knock down a trey for a seven-point Warrior lead at halftime at 32-25, with EHS outscoring the Lions 16-7 in the second quarter.
Eastern won the third frame at 16-12 as the Lions trailed by as many as 14 points in the frame, but by a 48-37 score at the end of the quarter. FHS began the quarter strong with a 3-pointer from Cannon and two points by Zink for a 32-30 deficit with 5:31 on the third-quarter clock, forcing the Warriors to call a timeout.
For the rest of the quarter — following the timeout by EHS — the Warriors outscored the Lions, 16-7, building an 11-point lead going into the fourth frame.
The Lions got to within four points of tying the score on two occasions at the 5:36 mark and 2:19 mark of the final frame, but the Warriors scored 12 points in the final 1:56 of the game, including going 8-of-8 from the free-throw line in the final 1:09 after the Lions were forced to foul.
For FHS in the fourth frame, they had eight points by Cannon (including two 3-pointers), six points by Zimmerman (including one 3-pointer) and two points each by Teeters and Zink.
Other final scoring totals for the Lions included Zimmerman (five points) and Bentley (three points). The Lions finished 7-of-12 from the free-throw line, while Eastern was 15-of-17.
Hundley led the Warriors in scoring with 21 points for the game, followed by Amburgey with 17 points and Garrett with 10 points, as he was a perfect 10-of-10 from the free-throw line. The rest of Eastern’s scoring included Walkup (six points), Haskins (six points) and Carter Vaughn (two points).
Next for the Lions is a home game against Fayetteville on Jan. 25. Their game against North Adams on Friday, Jan. 21 has been postponed.
The loss sends FHS to a SHAC mark of 6-1 and overall record of 8-4, while the Warriors are 7-1 in the SHAC and 9-3 overall.
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