FULLERTON – Addy G'Bye, Aman Haynes, Nick Hopkins and CJ Fisher combined for 64 points to help the No. 13 Hope International men's basketball team prevail in a 77-76 overtime battle over Florida Memorial on Monday at Darling Pavilion.

Despite not trailing for the entire 40 minutes of regulation, the Royals played extra basketball before securing their third straight win and eighth in the last nine contests. 

The Lions trailed by as many as 20 points in the second half before mounting a furious comeback and forcing overtime following two Tristan Thomas free throws that tied the score at 66-66 with 14 seconds to go.

G'Bye misfired on a game-winning attempt as time expired.

Morgan Brewer hit 1 of 2 free throws to give the Lions their first lead of the game, 67-66, to begin the OT period. Jorren Edmonds responded with a jumper to hand the 68-67 lead back to the Royals. Jeffery Selden rebounded his own missed three and drew the foul, sinking a pair of free throws for a 69-68 advantage with 3:35 remaining.

Hopkins got fouled – and despite struggling to a 7 of 14 effort from the free throw line – made both freebies to give the Royals a 70-69 lead. The Lions tied the game at 71-71 on a Peter Asceric jumper, but Edmonds answered with two free throws for a 73-71 HIU lead.

With the score tied at 73-73, Haynes converted a traditional "and-one" after hitting a jumper and drawing the foul on Devin Carter with 1:03 to play. But the Lions knotted the score at 76-76 on Carter's three with 52 seconds left.

Fisher drew a foul on Selden and hit 1 of 2 free throws with 29 seconds on the clock for a 77-76 HIU lead. Thomas missed a go-ahead layup attempt, but Selden corralled the offensive board and Florida Memorial called timeout with 12 ticks remaining. Fisher, who made several outstanding defensive plays throughout the game, swatted Selden's game-winning attempt with two seconds left to ice the victory.

In addition to scoring 10 points, Fisher added a career-high 10 rebounds for his first career double-double. He also had two assists, four blocked shots and two steals while playing 40 minutes.

G'Bye scored 21 points on 7 of 14 shooting, including 5 of 11 from three-point range. His three gave the Royals a 38-27 halftime lead. HIU drained seven of its 10 triples in the first half and shot 56.0 (14 of 25) percent overall to build the double-digit cushion.

Florida Memorial held the Royals to just 33.3 (7 of 21) percent shooting in the second half, but more importantly, grabbed 13 offensive rebounds during the final 20 minutes of regulation to spark the comeback. Asceric, who didn't enter the game until the 16:27 mark of the second half, converted multiple putback opportunities and finished with 14 points on 7 of 9 shooting with four offensive rebounds.

G'Bye's three-pointer gave HIU a 47-27 lead at the 16:17 mark, but the Lions used a 21-5 flurry to chop their deficit down to 52-48 just over five minutes later.

Selden's triple brought the Lions within 56-55 – and the visitors got within one on three other occasions – before the two Thomas free throws that forced OT.

Haynes finished 17 points and eight rebounds, while Hopkins had 16 points and five boards.

HIU has started 12-2 for the second straight season. Florida Memorial, led by Selden's 17 points, fell to 8-5.

The Royals play the remainder of their regular season schedule against GSAC competition, beginning on Saturday, January 3 as they ring in the New Year with a 2:00 p.m. contest against Life Pacific.