The 2011-2012 men’s basketball season got off to a fast start Thursday night as the Lions faced off against Association Free Lutheran Bible School. It would prove to be a very exciting game that would go down to the final moments.   Both teams came out fast in the first half, with the Lions getting out in front first. The Lions biggest lead of the first half was 12 but AFLBS would battle back and close the gap. The score at halftime had the Lions holding a nine point lead 54-45. In the second half, AFLBS would battle and take the lead within the first six minutes for their first lead of the game. From there on the two teams would never have a lead more than 7 points, with several ties and lead changes. With just under two minutes to play the Lions held a three point lead when, senior guard Alan Usher (Los Angeles, CA) stole the inbounds pass, leading to the lions getting fouled and pushing their lead to five. The Lions would hold on, winning their season opener 92 to 88. The Lions will face off against Association Free Lutheran Bible School again tonight Friday, November 4^th at 6pm.

            The Lions were led by junior guard Mikey Rosario (Forth Worth, TX) and sophomore center Joshua Bialik (Delta Junction, AK). Rosario led all players with eight assists and added 20 points to go with it. Bialik led the team in scoring with 26 points, 18 of which came in the second half. Freshman center Nick Lentz (Onida, SD) also scored double digits with 10 points.

            Coach Nowell had this to say about the game:  “We really worked hard tonight.  I appreciated the effort.  We were able to get open shots and hit them in the first half, but got cold in the middle of the second half.  We got through that and were able to execute in the end when it counted the most.  I was really impressed with our freshman.  They came to play and proved that the game wasn’t too fast for them.”