Lions Fall to King

MARS HILL, N.C.-The Mars Hill men's basketball team was unable to overcome a barrage of three-pointers by King, as the Lions dropped a 103-79 decision to the Tornados in Stanford Arena Tuesday night.

King connected on 14-of-26 (53.8 percent) from distance and shot 50.7 percent overall (35-of-69) from the field on the evening. Mars Hill was led by Khouraichi Thiam with 15 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. The Tornados were paced by Eddie Piccinini with 26 points on 9-of-16 shooting, including 5-of-11 from three-point range. Mars Hill fell to 1-2 on the season, while King improved to 4-0.

Four other Lions reached double figures, paced by Will White's 13 points. Kacey Holt (12), Kevin Haynes (11) and Daron Guyton (10) also reached double figures for MHC. The Lions hit 47 percent of their shots from the field (31-of-66).

Jason Seymore added 20 points and 10 rebounds, including a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc for King. Logan Lyle added 18 points, while Malcolm St. Louis chipped in with 13.

King took a 49-43 lead into halftime after a first half that featured a number of runs. The Lions ripped off a 17-3 run to take a 26-18 lead with 9:30 to play. A later 12-2 run by the Tornados knotted the score at 30. King closed the half with a 12-2 run take the six-point halftime advantage. The Tornados shot 54.1 percent (20-of-37) in the half, including 7-of-12 from long range (58.3 percent). Mars Hill shot 47.2 percent in the half (17-of-36).

Three-point shooting helped the Tornados break open the game in the second half. King hit 7-of-14 from distance in the second half and 17-of-21 from the charity stripe. King scored 30 points off Lion turnovers, 21 of which came in the second half.

Mars Hill will host Montreat on Thursday, Nov. 29 at 7:00 p.m. in Stanford Arena.