Lions Earn First Victory of Season

TIGERVILLE, S.C.-- Erica Warren's layup with five seconds left broke a late tie and lifted Mars Hill to a 75-73 victory over North Greenville in a back-and-forth tilt at Hayes Gymnasium Wednesday night.

After trailing 73-71 with 1:25 to play, the Lions scored the game's final four points to earn the victory. Armeka Booker converted a short jumper with 1:16 to play to knot the score at 73-apiece. On the ensuing Crusader possession, Booker blocked a shot to give MHC possession. North Greenville came away with a steal, but Kelsey Espinosa blocked another Crusader shot attempt to give the Lions the ball in the closing seconds. With time winding down, Ansley Ricker found Warren for the game-winner and the foul. Warren missed the ensuing free throw, but NGU was unable to get a shot off before time expired.

The win was the first of Lion head coach Sarah Jansen's tenure at Mars Hill. Ricker paced the Lions with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting and added four rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals. Booker reached double-figures for the third consecutive game, scoring 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting while adding seven rebounds and two blocks. The Crusaders were paced by Rashmi Vanhook with 17 points and seven rebounds. Mars Hill improved to 1-2 on the season. North Greenville fell to 0-2.

Warren's lay-up accounted for the last of her seven points on the evening. Espinosa reached double-figures for the first time as a Lion and filled the stat sheet with 12 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. MHC shot 50 percent on the evening (27-of-54).

Timisty Nelson added 16 points for the Crusaders. Ciara Anderson chipped in with 15 points, while Tyler Powers added 12. North Greenville connected on 31-of-81 from the field (38.1 percent).

The score remained tight throughout the entire contest, which featured 14 ties and six lead changes. North Greenville led by as much as six after a Vanhook jumper made the score 34-28 with 1:21 remaining in the first half, but the Lions closed with a 5-1 run to set the stage for the close second half. An Espinosa free throw, a fast-break layup by Ricker and a short jumper by Booker helped the Lions close the deficit to 35-33 at the half.

Mars Hill took its first lead of the second half with 17:54 when Booker found Ricker for a fast-break layup to make the score 39-37. That was the beginning of a 9-4 spurt that helped the Lions take a 46-41 advantage. Cadence Wilmoth capped the run with two of her six points on the evening.

A 7-0 NGU run capped by a Tierra Richburg bucket gave the Crusaders a 48-46 lead. From that point, neither team led by more than two until the Lions pushed the advantage to 71-66 on an Espinosa jumper with 2:57 to play. Another 7-0 Crusader run gave NGU a 73-71 lead before the deciding stretch gave the Lions the victory.

Mars Hill will host King (Tenn.) in the Lions' home-opener on Tuesday, Nov. 20 at 6:00 p.m. in Stanford Arena.