Both FHU basketball teams face an important three days in conference play starting tonight in Batesville, Ark.

The Lions have been able to shake off a mid-season slump to win four straight games and now find themselves tied with Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) for second place in the TranSouth Conference at 5-1, a half-game behind Union (Tenn.).

FHU's men opened the season ranked No. 18 in the NAIA, but a stretch that saw six losses in seven games contributed to their fall out of the top 25 and almost out of the poll entirely.  In the season's fourth ranking on Jan. 18, the Lions received one vote.

But, after four convincing wins including an 81-62 road victory over then No. 11 Trevecca, the Lions could be on the verge of returning to the top 25.

A lot of that rests on the outcome of another conference game tonight when Trevecca visits Union.

Without going into detail on how the conference ratings and national ratings are tied together, the important thing to understand is that Union and Trevecca are currently ranked 1-2 in the conference - which means, despite the 19-point road win over the Trojans, FHU cannot be ranked ahead of them in the national poll.

But a Union win over Trevecca tonight coupled with a pair of wins by FHU on Thursday (at Lyon) and Saturday (vs. Bethel) should result in the Lions moving back ahead of TNU in the conference poll and, subsequently, the national poll.

Remember that it was this time last year when the Lions got hot and rolled off 12 straight wins, jumping into the top 25 and staying there for the rest of the year.  Coach Jason Shelton's M.O. is to put his teams through a brutal non-conference schedule in order to be prepared for conference play.  It worked last year, and early returns show it working again this year.

The Lady Lions are playing for something different, both from what the men are and from what they are used to.

FHU's streak of 28 consecutive appearances in the NAIA top 10 was broken this Monday, when the Lady Lions went from No. 6 to No. 15 on the heels of a three-game losing streak.  They are currently 3-3 in conference play and in a three-way tie for fourth place with the two teams they play this week - Lyon and Bethel.

Wins in each of those games would go a long way in making the statement that the Lady Lions aren't done, despite what you might read on some message boards.

FHU posted blowout wins over Mid-Continent (Ky.), 109-48, and Blue Mountain (Miss.), 94-66, to break the skid but still struggled from behind the arc in three of the four halves of those games.  Three-point shooting has been a key factor for the Lady Lions this season - in each of their four losses, they only managed to make five or fewer.  Conversely, they are 12-0 in games where they made at least six 3-pointers.

As I blogged last week, teams go through stretches where the shots just don't fall, and the Lady Lions are no exception.  And if the shots aren't falling from the outside, they'll have to find a way to win these two games if they want to have an opportunity to get back into the top 10.

While they haven't been in this exact position in several years, the players are used to playing important games and Coach Dale Neal knows how to win them. 

That reputation will be put to the test over the next three days.  But if history is any indication, don't bet against the Lady Lions. 

Figuratively speaking, of course.

Most sports are, in some ways at least, a game of percentages.

Take a look at any stat sheet and you'll figure that out pretty easily.

For both Freed-Hardeman basketball teams, percentages have very much played a role in their wins and losses over the course of this season and particularly in the last few weeks.  Lately, it's been a role reversal for the two teams.

From late November through early January, it was the Lions who were struggling with the percentage game.  After starting the season 7-1, they lost five of six games thanks at least in some part to poor shooting from 3-point range.  In their first eight games, FHU shot 50.7 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from beyond the arc; in their next six, the Lions shot 44.9 percent from the field and 27.6 percent from 3-point range.

Fortunes quickly reversed in their last two games, though.  The Lions have shot 43.8 percent (21-for-48) from beyond the arc and 52.9 percent (63-for-119) overall in a pair of blowout wins over Trevecca and Martin Methodist, percentages much more in line with the 7-1 start to the season.

So what's been the difference?

Pretty simple, according to head coach Jason Shelton.

"They went in," he said.  "It's basketball.  That's just how it is.  We've been doing the same things in practices and games [as we did before]."

The same thing could be said for the Lady Lions, who are now suffering through the same type of slump that plagued their counterparts for the better part of a month.  Unfortunately for the women, their slump hit at a most inopportune time - the start of conference play.

After averaging 84.8 points per game during a non-conference schedule that was ranked as one of the toughest in the NAIA by the Massey Ratings while shooting 45.0 percent from the field and 38.1 percent from 3-point range, the brakes were slammed on the Lady Lions' offense.  In their four conference games, FHU is shooting 41.1 percent from the field and 29.6 percent from 3-point range.  The result has been an average of 59.3 points per game in their first four conference contests.

Like the men's team, the Lady Lions' shooters have been getting good looks at the basket.  The only difference lately is, the shots just haven't been going in.

But there's no need for FHU fans to panic.  The results from the first 13 games are much more representative of the team's shooting prowess than the last four.  As Coach Shelton said, that's basketball.  Sometimes the shots just don't go in, no matter how open you are or how great your form is.

Just as the percentages have started to come back around to the Lions' favor, so they will for the Lady Lions.

And my guess is that it's going to be sooner rather than later.