Staff report

MARS HILL — Mars Hill squandered a 17-point lead but held on for a 79-75 victory over Livingstone, here Wednesday night in women’s college basketball action.

Several Mars Hill players recorded double-doubles and career-highs as the Lions improved to 2-5 overall. The Blue Bears fell to 3-4.

Mars Hill’s Paige Chavis led all scorers with 24 points, to go along with her season-high 14 rebounds. Madison Ervin and Jenny Edwards also had double-doubles, Ervin tallied 15 points and 10 boards, both career-highs, while Edwards provided 12 points and 14 rebounds.

Former North Rowan star Aliyah Farmer also had a double-double, with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Farmer, a 5-8 guard, is starting as a freshman for the Lions. Farmer was 5-for-10 from the floor and 2-for-3 at the foul line, but fouled out with 6:58 left.

Livingstone’s dynamic duo, Ari DeJesus and Zena Lovette, continued their great play, but no one else managed to score in double figures. DeJesus had 22 points and eight rebounds while Lovette scored 18 points and grabbed six boards.

Rebounding was the key to the contest, as both teams shot around 34 percent for the game. However, Mars Hill dominated the boards, collecting 65 rebounds, compared to 40 for the Blue Bears.

In addition to the 65 rebounds, the Lions set season-highs in free throw attempts (42) and makes (32).

The Lions used a tenacious defense and hot shooting to start the contest, jumping out to a 14-2 lead just four minutes into the first quarter. That lead grew to 19-4 before Livingstone scored five straight points and seven of the next nine, cutting the deficit to 21-13 at the 1:46 mark. Chavis knocked down a corner three and MHU led, 24-15, after one period.

The teams played an even second quarter (12-12), leaving Mars Hill with a 36-27 halftime lead.

The Blue Bears fell further behind in the third period, but rallied in the fourth quarter, actually taking a 67-65 lead on a three-point play from DeJesus with 4:03 remaining.

But Mars Hill then went on a 9-0 run, behind Chavis and Ervin, to again take control at 74-67.

A 6-0 Livingstone run cut the deficit to 74-73, but Chavis calmly sank five free throws in the final 42 seconds to help the Lions hold on.

It was not exactly a textbook type of game. In addition to the combined 105 rebounds, the game had 62 free throws attempted and 52 fouls called. The two squads also combined to make just 8-of-43 shots from the 3-point line.

Livingstone now has a break in the schedule for exams, before returning to action on Dec. 11 at Bowie State. Mars Hill will host Wingate on Saturday.

LIVINGSTONE (75) — Cardriche 4, Patterson 9, Lovette 18, Taylor 7, DeJesus 22, Young, Searcy 4, Green 7, Hunter 4.

MARS HILL (79) — Farmer 12, Edwards 12, Ervin 15, Comer 7, Chavis 24, Reed 4, Wilson, Hampton, Brooks, Pokrovskaya 5, Robinson.

Livingstone        15   12    19   29 — 75

Mars Hill           24    12    25   18 — 79