The Hendrix College men's basketball team opened the D3hoops.com Classic with a 62-54 loss to Hiram College at South Point Arena on Friday night. The Warriors (4-7) shot just 31 percent (20-of-65) from the field, while the Terriers (6-4) shot 40 percent (21-of-52).

Hiram jumped out to a 14-4 lead after a three-pointer at the 13:18 mark in first half. Hendrix answered with a 15-5 run to tie the game at 19-19 with 7:27 remaining in the period. The Terriers took a 26-24 lead into halftime.

The Warriors led 41-39 with 12:27 to play, but Hiram went on a 15-4 run over the next five minutes, gaining control of the game with a 54-45 lead. Hendrix cut the deficit to 58-54 with 35 seconds left, but forced to foul, Aaron Stefanov went 4-for-4 at the free throw line down the stretch.

The Warriors also went 7-of-23 from three-point range and 7-of-13 at the free throw line. The Terriers went 6-of-18 from outside and 14-of-19 at the stripe. Hiram had a 45-39 rebound advantage.

Freshman guard Drew Nikolovski came off the bench to score a season-best 15 points and grab five rebounds for the Warriors. Senior guard Jaren Riley had 15 points and two steals and junior forward Colton Primm scored 12 points and tied his season-high with 15 rebounds. Sophomore guard Nathan McCubbin tied his career-high with five assists.

Stefanov paced Hiram with 19 points and eight rebounds. Alan Sheppard scored 18 points to go with four assists and Justin Lonis added 10 points and six boards.

Hendrix will wrap up their trip to the desert with Wisconsin Lutheran at 8 p.m. central on Saturday.