UAFS held the nationally-ranked St. Edward's Hilltoppers well below their season scoring average Thursday night, but the Lions' strong upset bid fell just short as the Hilltoppers escaped the Stubblefield Center with a 76-65 Heartland Conference win.

It was the first game of the Lions' two-game, conference home stand. UAFS will host the Dallas Baptist Patriots at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the Stubblefield Center before embarking on a two-game, conference road trip next week with games at Texas A&M International (Jan. 24) and St. Mary's (Jan. 26).

That road trip will mark the end of the first round of conference play. UAFS will begin the second round of conference play on Jan. 30 against Rogers State at the Stubblefield Center.

St. Edward's (16-1, 5-0), which leads the conference, was averaging 90 points per game coming into Thursday's game. It was the second close call for the Hilltoppers, who are ranked No. 4 in both the NABC Division II Top 25 and the D2SIDA Top 25. St. Edward's was coming off a 64-57 home win on Saturday against Oklahoma Christian, which UAFS beat 92-70 at the game prior to that.

UAFS, which was tied with St. Edward's at halftime, held the Hilltoppers to just 43 percent shooting from the field (26 of 60) – they were 4-of-12 shooting from 3-point range – but the Hilltoppers shot 71 percent from the free-throw line (15 of 21).

Junior guard Ashton Spears led the Hilltoppers with 26 points, while sophomore forward Corey Shervill and junior forward Lucas Doria each had double-doubles. Shervill finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds, while Doria had 13 points and 10 rebounds.

The duo helped the Hilltoppers out-rebound the Lions by 11 rebounds (44-33). That was pivotal for the Lions, who allowed 14 offensive rebounds that led to 15 second-chance points.

UAFS (7-10, 1-4) shot 40 percent from the field (23 of 57) – the Lions were 12-of-33 shooting from 3-point range – but it shot only 44 percent from the free-throw line (7 of 16). Senior guard Chris Crawford had a team-high 20 points and five assists, while junior guard Tyler Williams added 13 points.

Junior forward Matt Morgan just missed a double-double, finishing with nine points and 15 rebounds – a career-high for him as a Lion and the ninth-most in a single game during the Lions' NCAA Division II era.

The Lions committed 11 turnovers, though, which led to 15 points for the Hilltoppers.
 
 
MEN
HEARTLAND CONFERENCE
NO. 4 ST. EDWARD'S 76, UAFS 65
St. Edward's               39        37        --          76
UAFS                          39        26        --          65
St. Edward's (16-1, 5-0): Spears 26, Doria 13, Shervill 13, Haas 9, Lopez 6, McKendree 4, Garza 3, Phillips 2
UAFS (7-10, 1-4): Crawford 20, Williams 13, Morgan 9, Ward 7, Hawley 6, Warren 6, Sivins 4