Greyhounds Take National Park, Advance to Region Championship

The Greyhounds went on a 12-2 run early in the first half and never trailed, taking a 92-78 victory over the National Park College Nighthawks Sunday in the Region 2 Tournament semifinals at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas.

ASU Mid-South led 49-36 at the half, and withstood a second-half National Park run that cut the lead to 63-60 midway through the half. But the Greyhounds went on another 12-2 run to put the game out of reach as Kevin Fulton found Christian White in transition for a layup, Garret Finley took a charge on the other end before hitting an 8-foot jump hook in the paint, and White then got a steal and hit Jalen Lynn for a transition layup to start it off. Finley and Lynn then hit back-to-back three-pointers on the next two possessions to give the Greyhounds a 75-62 lead that never got smaller than 8 points the rest of the way.

The Nighthawks shot 47.7% from the field and an outstanding 50% from the three-point line (9-of-18), but the Greyhounds forced 19 turnovers while only committing 10 turnovers and hit 16-of-21 free throws to help seal the win.

Jalen Lynn led the charge with a game-high 28 points while Garret Finley scored 17 points and pulled down 8 rebounds. Ike Moore finished with 16 points, 6 rebounds, and a game-high 6 assists to go with 2 steals, and Christian White collected a game-high 10 rebounds and 4 blocked shots to go with 9 points.

ASU Mid-South (24-7) advances to the Region 2 Championship Game Tuesday at 7:30pm back at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. The Greyhounds face North Arkansas College (22-9) who defeated SAU Tech 104-94 in the other semifinal game Sunday.

Garret Finley hits one of his three 3-pointers vs. National Park. (Photos by Lindsey Stevens)