Phoenixville, PA:        The Trinity Bible College Lady Lions basketball team got to open their second half of the season on the east coast. They traveled to Phoenixville, Pennsylvania to take part in the 25^th annual Assemblies of God Basketball Classic. The four teams participating in the 25^th annual and final AG Basketball Class were the host school and 5^th ranked Valley Forge Christian College, the 2^nd ranked Kentucky Christian University, Trinity University and Trinity Bible College. The Lady Lions first game was against the 2^nd ranked Kentucky Christian.

            Kentucky Christian University (KCU) jumped out to an early 7 to 4 lead over the Lady Lions just 5 minutes into the game. KCU would push their early first half lead to as much as 10 points with 11 minutes left in the first half. The Lions would finally draw even and tie the game at 26 all with 5 minutes to play in the first half.  The two teams would battle for the final minutes as KCU would take a slim one point lead into halftime leading the Lady Lions 36 to 35. In the second half the two teams battled some more with 2 lead changes and 4 ties. The two teams would find themselves all knotted up with 14 minutes to go and again with 4 minutes to play at 56 apiece as Aaren LaRose would hit the game tying 3 pointer. Kentucky Christian would then pull ahead by 1 point with 7 seconds to play and the Lady Lions would get the ball with a chance to win. The Lady Lions set up the play and as time expired senior Treva Nutter’s last second shot was blocked and KCU escaped with the 1 point win. In the loss the Lady Lions were led by freshman Aaren LaRose who led all scorers with 22 points on 8 for 16(50 percent) shooting from the field, 6 for 13 on threes, she added 4 rebounds and 3 steals. Joining her in double figures was Treva Nutter who had 17 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals, and Kylie Flemmer pitched in 10 points and 7 rebounds. The Lady Lions finished the game shooting 37 percent (23-62) from the field and 33 percent (8-24) on threes. Kentucky Christian won the battle of the boards pulling down 17 offensive boards and a total of 42 rebounds compared to the Lady Lions 10 offensive rebounds and 28 total rebounds. 

            Day two of the classic saw the Lady Lions matched up against the host school, the 5^th ranked Valley Forge Christian College Patriots. The Lady Lions got up early opening the game on a 10 to 4 run with 14 minutes left. The Patriots would respond closing the Lady Lions lead to 2 points with 12 minutes to play. The Lady Lions then went on a run of their own to get a 9 point lead 26 to 17 with 7 minutes left in the half.  The Patriots responded again with a 17 to 8 run to end the half as both teams would go into halftime with 34 points.  The second half was as exciting as the first with 5 lead changes and 3 ties. The Patriots held a 6 point lead with a little over a minute to play in the game until Shianne Montgomery would hit one three to pull the Lady Lions closer and on the next possession for the Lady Lions she would knock down another with less than 30 seconds to spare. After Valley Forge missed the front end of a one on one free throw the Lady Lions got the rebound and did the same. With the score tied at 63 the Lady Lions fouled the Patriots and they would make the first and missed the second free throw and the Lady Lions could not get a shot up before time expired.  The Lady Lions lost for the second day in a row by a score of 64 to 63. In the loss the Lady Lions were led by Shianne Montgomery who had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Joining her in double figures was Aaren LaRose added 12 points and 5 rebounds, junior Kylie Flemmer pitched in 12 points, 5 steals, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, and Treva Nutter also had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. The Lady Lions finished the game shooting 30 percent (20-65) and grabbed 12 offensive rebounds.

            In the final day of the AG Classic the Lady Lions faced off against Trinity University from Washington D.C.  The Lady Lions found themselves in another tough battle in this game as well. They would jump out to another early lead and Trinity University would fight back to get within four points with 14 minutes to play. The Lady Lions then fought to keep the lead going into halftime 36 to 34. Both teams were shooting the ball well in the first half with Trinity University converting 44 percent (13-29) of their field goal attempts and the Lady Lions making 40 percent (13-32) of theirs. Both teams would struggle to find their offense in the start of the second half with the Lady Lions going on a 13 to 8 run over the first 9 minutes of the half. Trinity University would make one more push to close with a two points but the Lady Lions responded and took back control of the game and went on to win 70 to 56. The Lady Lions were led by Treva Nutter who led all scorers in the game with 21 points, she also grabbed 9 rebounds, 8 steals and 6 assists. Junior Kylie Flemmer added 15 points and 5 rebounds, while Aaren Larose added 12 points and 6 rebounds of her own and Kayla Droste scored 11 points off the bench for the Lady Lions.  The Lady Lions grabbed 8 offensive rebounds and won the rebounding battle by one 36 to 35. They also had 14 steals while forcing 29 Trinity University turnovers.

            Kentucky Christian University went on to beat Valley Forge Christian College in the championship game of the AG Basketball Classic. After the final game they announced Treva Nutter had been selected to the All Tournament Team.

            The Lady Lions record on the weekend was 1-2 and that moves them to 8-9 overall for the season. The Lady Lions next games are home as they host Dakota Collage Bottineau Friday night at 6pm and then Lake Region State College Saturday afternoon at 2pm.

Stay connected with Trinity Bible College Basketball all season long at http://trinitybiblecollege.edu/athletics, on facebook http://www.facebook.com/tbcathletics, and on twitter @tbcathletics.