Lions Fall to Saints in Season-Opener

MARS HILL, N.C.—Mars Hill's men's basketball team dropped their season-opener 97-86  to the hot-shooting Limestone Saints Saturday afternoon in Stanford Arena.

Limestone connected on 56 percent (35-of-63) of their shots from the field in the victory. MHU was led by Devonte Williams, who turned in 24-point, eight-rebound, four-assist performance. He was one of three Lions to score in double-figures.  Asaad Woods scored 31 points and added seven rebounds and four assists to lead the Saints. Mars Hill opens the season 0-1. Limestone is now 1-0 on the season.

Jalen Witherspoon added 19 points on 5-of-11 shooting to go along with seven rebounds. Carter Wright notched 17 points and connected on 10-of-15 free throws. The Lions shot 38 percent from the field 24-of-64.

Josh Odem notched 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including 3-of-5 from three-point range. Shaq Dance also shot 70 percent from the field (7-of-10) and scored 17 points. The Saints held a 40-28 advantage in the paint.

The first half featured tight back and forth action. After a Thomas Anderson free throw knotted the score at 32-apiece with 5:27 to play in the half, Limestone went on a 14-6 surge to open up an eight-point lead. The Saints would lead by as much as 48-39 on a Josh Odem three with 18 seconds to play. MHU closed the half strong with a Kevin Haynes corner three as time expired to pull within 48-42 at the break.

The Lions shot 40 percent (12-of-30) in the first half, including 7-of-13 (53.8 percent) from three. The Saints connected on 18-of-34 field goal attempts (52.9 percent) and held a 22-10 advantage in the paint.

A 15-6 spurt in the second half pushed the Limestone lead to 15. Woods, Odem and Chavis connected on threes, with Chavis' pushing the score 76-61 with 12:29 to play.

The Saint lead would remain in double-digits until a 14-4 Lion run cut the score to 88-82 with 3:54 to play. Wright accounted for nine points in the run, including a corner three off a Haynes steal to cut the deficit to seven. Haynes added four points during that stretch. That was as close as the Lions would get the rest of the way.

Mars Hill will travel to King (Tenn.) for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.