Lynchburg Men's Basketball Optimistic to Improve Free Throw Stats
- Evan Gates
- Apr 24
- 2 min read
Despite suffering its worst free throw percentage since the 2008-2009 season, the University of Lynchburg men’s basketball team earned 14 wins and advanced to the conference semifinals in the most recent college basketball campaign.
As evidenced by the team’s four wins in 2008, free throws are a crucial element to success by offering multiple unobstructed shots following illegal contact.
Lynchburg made 344 of its 557 free throws during the 2024-2025 season; the team’s 61.8 shooting percentage finished last in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference despite the Hornets taking the fourth-most attempts (2024-2025 Men’s…, n.d.).
The team’s number of free throw attempts and makes skyrocketed as conference play arrived later in the season. These improvements coincided with closer scorelines, as tight matchups often require last-minute fouls to prevent the clock from dwindling to zero.
Completing his 17th season, head coach Hilliary Scott recognized a correlation between the team’s presence close to the basket and free throw attempts.
“One of the things we stress is getting paint touches,” Scott said. “The byproduct of paint touches is getting to the line, shooting higher percentages around the basket, or opening up for threes.”
With the team utilizing two forwards in the paint, the Hornets excelled in getting to the free-throw line. The number of misses, however, could be a product of several other obstacles.
“We’ve had some injuries this year,” said Scott. “Jayson [Easton] would add something, Mason [Makovec] would’ve gotten to the line as well. Piercen [Young] had stretches where he was hurt this year.”
Easton led the team and shot 78 percent from the free throw line before his injury in early December. For those that underperformed, as junior guard Piercen Young stated, it remains crucial to continue attacking.
“Even if you’re struggling, your numbers aren’t going to get better unless you shoot more of them,” said Young. “Getting there is better than thinking, ‘Oh, I can’t bring down my percentage.’”
Even with subpar shooting performances, the team experienced heightened success when starters made more free throws than average, as shown below.
Lynchburg only outperformed its opponents from the line in three of its 13 losses. An even more drastic difference, however, lies in the team’s percentage on the road during conference play.
The Hornets will only lose two players to graduation following this season, hoping to remain competitive in the ODAC.
For access to team stats, click here.
Sources List:
Hilliary Scott – Head Men’s Basketball Coach
Piercen Young – Student Athlete, Men’s Basketball Team
2024-2025 Men’s Basketball - Overall Statistics. Old Dominion Athletic Conference. (n.d.). https://odaconline.com/stats.aspx?path=mbball&year=2024
2024-2025 Men’s Basketball Cumulative Stats. Lynchburg Sports. (n.d.). https://lynchburgsports.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats (DATA SOURCE)
GAME-BY-GAME tab is used for season totals, INDIVIDUAL tab is used for player stats
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