Lions win first-ever conference tournament championship - Mar 11, 2015

A program looking for its first conference championship after heartbreaking losses in their last three attempts. A coach trying to win his 200th game. A team that wasn't even expected to be in the game, much less hosting it.

They all collided on Tuesday night, and the result was history.

After coming up empty in their five previous trips, the Freed-Hardeman Lions finally broke through to win a conference championship with an 83-78 victory over Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.) in the American Midwest Conference finals.

It was the first-ever tournament title in the 40-year history of Freed-Hardeman men's basketball as a four-year program. And it certainly didn't come easily against a LU-Belleville team looking for a second straight upset, a conference championship and a trip to the national tournament.

FHU was playing for history; the Lynx were playing for their season.

And for most of the game, they looked to be in good position to keep it alive.

There were nine ties in the second half alone, and those ties were generally followed by scoring bursts by LU-Belleville. The Lions had taken a 51-49 lead with 13:42 left, but a Craig Anderson (6'3''-G) basket quickly followed and set off a 14-5 run that saw the Lynx lead by seven with 7:45 to play.

FHU fought back to tie it again. LU-Belleville went up by four immediately afterward. The thorn in Freed-Hardeman's side continued to poke, just as it had done in three of the team's previous four meetings.

But this is a Lion team that continually found ways to win all season, and tonight was no exception. Fittingly, it was a trio of seniors who came up with necessary plays at necessary moments.

First, it was fifth-year senior Ben Meis (6'6''-G). He made two early 3-pointers but had gone silent since, with the Lynx defense constantly chasing him wherever he went. But this time, they lost him, and Meis made them pay. His third 3-pointer was his biggest, giving the Lions a two-point lead with 1:25 to play.

Then, there was Cameron Lewis (6'1''-G), a third-team All-American last season at Fisk (Tenn.) who changed programs for his final year, wanting a chance to play in the national tournament.

Saddled with two early fouls, he played less than two minutes in the first half. And the Lynx held him in check in the second half. The conference's second-leading scorer had all of two points with less than 6:00 to play. But he stepped it up late scoring 10 points over the final 5:43, and none were bigger than his 3-pointer that put FHU on top for good with 24 seconds left.

The Lynx still had life even after a missed opportunity on their end. With Lewis at the foul line with six seconds left and FHU ahead by three, he missed both free throws. But he sneaked in to grab a tipped rebound and quickly dump the ball to Vincent Dotson (6'5''-F) for the game-clinching basket.

And then there was Dotson. Although unheralded, perhaps no player on the floor can change a game for FHU like the 6-foot-5 senior can. Tonight, he did a little bit of everything with 15 points, 12 rebounds, six blocked shots and a pair of charges drawn at key points late in the ball game.

'He's done an unbelievable job,' said FHU head coach Jason Shelton . 'He's the consummate teammate. All he wants to do is win and compete and bring out the best in everyone else. He tries so hard to do his job, whatever he's asked to do. He doesn't care about the glory.'

Others made plays, too. Evan Forhetz (5'10''-PG) scored 12 points, and it seemed like all 12 of those came at times when the Lions needed to break an LU-Belleville run. Debrell McLemore (5'9''-PG) was often tasked with the unenviable assignment of guarding Anderson, but helped limit him to 8-of-22 shooting. Isaiah Harrison (6'8''-F) assisted Dotson with the interior defense, swatting away four shots.

In short, it was basically what the team had done all season. Take the sum of the parts and make the whole greater.

'We all trust in each other and play so well together,' said Forhetz. 'When you have a team that comes together like we do, it's just something special.'

Indeed it was for a team picked to finish fifth in the conference and left out of the preseason national poll. Now, the Lions will head to the national tournament with, most likely, the No. 4 seed and a record of 28-3 - one win short of tying last year's program record for most wins in a season.

The win was also the 200th of Shelton's career, and a fitting one for the coach who turned Freed-Hardeman into a top 10 program on the national level. In his 10th year, he is the only coach in Lion history to average 20 wins per season during his career.

Courtesy of FHU

AMC Tournament Final: Freed-Hardeman - Lindenwood-Belleville 83-78
AMC Tournament Semifinals:
Freed-Hardeman - Williams Baptist 74-66
Lindenwood-Belleville - Columbia 71-69