In close games, free-throw shooting quite often determines the winner. Such was the case on Saturday when TBC Eagles Men's Basketball got a South Region win in the season finale against the South Region's Southeastern Baptist College. Despite getting outshot and rebounded, the Eagles sank 27 of 30 free throws to defeat the SBC Chargers 76-71.

The 30 free throws were split evenly between the two halves. The Eagles were 13 for 15 in the first half and 14 for 15 in the second. The 27 makes are a season high as is the success rate of 90%.

Five Eagles took the shots with Diego Fernandez hitting 10 of 10 and DJ Thompson sinking all 6 of his. Brandon Hill was 6 for 8, Zach Kiadii was 3 for 4, and Ian Kanady was 2 for 2.

The Chargers took the early lead, and when Thompson made three free throws and a layup in among them, the Eagles led 5-4 and held that lead until 8:35 left in the half. SBC's Reginald Jones put his team ahead 19-18, and the Chargers maintained that lead into the intermission when the score was 34-30.

Jacquez Anderson's three-pointer 20 seconds into the second half pulled Trinity to within 1, but the Chargers rebuilt their lead and extended it to 9 at 42-33 at 17:53 by scoring the next 8 points. Anderson would hit another clutch three later in the second half.

The Eagles then began to soar.

Hill led a 16-6 run with 7 points (3 free throws) to help TBC reclaim the lead at 49-48 with 13:43 remaining. Two lead changes followed, but Trinity went ahead for good with 11:09 left on Fernandez's three-pointer.

The Eagles eventually built a 14-point lead, but Southeastern Baptist stormed right back into single digits and got as close as 6 with 4:16 remaining before Trinity closed it out with layups and foul shots.

Fernandez totaled 21 points overall while Thompson scored 18 and Hill tallied 16. Anderson and Kiadii each finished with 9, and Kanady had 4.

Southeastern Baptist got double-figure scoring from Thomas Wright (15), Kyle Roach (11), and Ashton Peters (10). The Chargers shot 49% in the second half and converted 14 foul shots of their own.

The regular season has ended, and the Eagles will now prepare for the South Region Tournament, which begins on February 22 at Pensacola Christian College in Pensacola, Florida.