The Lake Orion Lions hosted the Springfield Christian Academy Eagles, a conference opponent for their second game of the season.
This was a down-to-the-wire game with the Eagles victorious 55-52.
The Lions controlled the game throughout 28 minutes of play, taking the first quarter 12-10 and leading at half time 29-19.
Continuing with the third quarter, the Lions led 40-29. At the 4-minute mark of the fourth quarter, the Lions were leading 48-33.
The Eagles Nick Bachman connected for three 3-pointers in just over one minute as a result of turnovers that gave the ball back to the Eagles.
The Eagles were now within six points The Lions had an opportunity to extend their lead after a one-and-one foul situation followed by a technical foul on one of the Eagle players, but failed in making only one of the four opportunities.
Lions senior Captain and point guard James Moreno fouled out with 1:2.6 minutes to go. The Lions missed an opportunity to tie the game with a two or a three-pointer for a win with only 0.6 seconds to go but failed as they had to go the full length of the court.
The Lions suffered at the free throw line, making only 9 for 19 for 47 percent while the Eagles hit 12 for 19 or 63 percent.
The Lions were led by Moreno with 16 points, 3 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists. Co-Captain junior Chris Hojnacki had 12 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 block.
Junior guard Treavor Halleck had 7 points, 2 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 assists.
Freshman James Noruk had 7 points, 1 rebound and 2 steals. Freshman Brad Watterworth had 6 points, 10 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 blocks and 1 assist. Junior Matt Cameron had 4 points, 13 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks and 1 assist.
The Eagles were led by Nick Bachman with 22 points and followed by Will Keller with 17 points. The Eagles season record is 6 and 6.
On Friday, the Lions hosted the Christian Leadership Academy Defenders of Troy.
This was another down-to-the-wire game with the Defenders leaving with a 49-47 win.
The Lions were trailing 14-7 at the end of the first quarte, but found their game in the second quarter, and led 29-24 at the half.
However, late in the second quarter, Moreno was taken out while going for a layup resulting in an intentional foul being called on a Defender player. As a result, the Lions lost their point guard for the remainder of the game. This compounded the situation as previously the Lions had lost their senior Stephen Watson, who had been starting at forward, with an ankle sprain in practice the previous Friday and had now missed two games.
Also, by this time in the game, both forwards had their third foul called in the second quarter. The past two games freshman Brad Watterworth had been filling in for Watson. During the second half, the Lions had three freshmen in the lineup with Watterworth at center and freshmen James Noruk and Danny Cremen filling in at guard positions.
The Lions continued to struggle from the foul line hitting only 7 foor 18 or 39%. The Defenders hit 10 for 13 or 77%.
Cameron led the Lions with his second double-double of the year with 14 points and 11 rebounds, 3 blocks and 1 assist. Halleck had 10 points, 1 rebound and 2 steals. Noruk had 9 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 4 blocks and 4 assists. Hojnacki had 8 points, 2 rebounds and 4 blocks. Watterworth had 2 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks.
The defenders were led by Sam Howard with 22 points and Ben Cummings followed with 12.
The Lions are 5 for 5 for the season and the Defenders are 4 and 6.