HARDEEVILLE, S.C. — The No. 4 SCAD Savannah men's lacrosse team secured a decisive 13-7 victory against the Running Eagles of No. RV Life University on Thursday night at the SCAD Athletics Complex.
 
RECORDS: The Bees improved to 12-2 overall and 5-1 in Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) play with the win. The Running Eagles fell to 3-4 overall and 2-4 in conference action.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: SCAD established control early, opening the first quarter with five unanswered goals. Mason Hickman initiated the scoring with back-to-back goals at the 10:28 and 9:23 marks, followed by a goal from Noah Moreland. Hickman added two more goals to give the Bees a 5-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.
 
The momentum continued in the second quarter as Moreland completed his hat trick with two additional goals before halftime. Although the visitors managed three goals in the frame, SCAD maintained an 7-3 advantage heading into halftime.
 
In the third quarter, the Bees outscored the Running Eagles 3-2. Eli Phillips scored his first goal of the game with 10:12 on the clock in the third quarter. Hickman recorded his fifth of the game two minutes later. Ethan Cline found the back of the net with just under six minutes remaining in the quarter to push the lead to 10-5.
 
SCAD closed out the victory in the final period with goals from Hickman, Phillips and Sebastian Manuel. Despite two late scores from the visitors, the Bees' early dominant performance was enough to seal the six-goal conference win.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: Mason Hickman led all players with six goals and two assists for a game-high eight points. The Senior added two ground balls as well.
 
Noah Moreland totaled three goals and one assist for four points, while Eli Phillips tallied two goals and one assist for three points. Sebastian Manuel had one goal and two assists for three points, while Ethan Cline had one goal and Jonathan O'Bryant Graves had one assist.
 
Defensively, Keaton Melcher was solid in the cage, making nine saves to anchor the unit. Levi Henning totaled a game-high four caused turnovers to go along with four ground balls, while Phillips, Manuel and O'Bryant Graves totaled two caused turnovers, with O'Bryant Graves leading all players with eight ground balls.
 
WHAT'S NEXT? The Bees will travel to West Point, Georgia, to take on Point University on Saturday, April 11, at 2:00 p.m.