If for nothing less than motivation, Tre Gober will remember Lakeview Academy’s 58-50 win Friday over Riverside Military Academy. 

The Lions (7-1) gritted their teeth late to withstand a spirited Eagles comeback in Gainesville, extending Lakeview’s seven-game win streak.

Lakeview built a 15-0 run in the middle of the second quarter to put up a 21-point lead with 2:33 left in the first half.

Riverside responded by scoring eight 3-pointers in the second half to cut the lead to just five with less than 50 seconds left to play.

But the Lions made six of their 10 free throws to keep just enough of a lead and seal a win.

“It feels great,” Gober said. “We’re a clutch team. We know we can do what we need to when it’s close.”

Gober and Daniel Fadool combined for 31 points to lead Lakeview. Davis Short converted five of Riverside’s nine treys to lead the Eagles with 24 points.

Lakeview Academy is unbeaten at home (4-0) and hasn’t lost since a season-opening road trip to Greater Atlanta Christian in late November.

Riverside (5-4) saw its recent 3-game win streak broken. The Eagles outscored Lakeview in the second half, but struggled from the free throw line (made 7 of 14) all night.

“The free throw line has been our Achilles heel all year now,” said Riverside coach Marvin Latham. “The guys aren’t as confident about that. When we went in at halftime, there wasn’t a lot of X’s and O’s, but we talked about playing for pride.”

Up 15-8 after the first quarter, Drew Cottrell (10 points) knocked down back-to-back treys and three of his Lakeview teammates collected buckets to open up a 32-11 lead with 2:33 remaining in the second quarter. The Eagles converted just two field goals in their barren second quarter, both by Short.

Short kept up his hot streak to score 10 of Riverside’s 13 third-quarter points out of the break to cut the lead to 45-29.

“We had moments where we played really, really well and we had moments where it didn’t even look like we knew what a basketball was,” said Lakeview coach Todd Cottrell. “I was disappointed with some of the execution in the second half. I’m glad we had a lead and that we could hold on to it.”

At its best, Riverside flowed in the fourth quarter, opening up a 12-1 run within three minutes to cut the Lakeview lead to 52-47 with under a minute to play. But the Lions were able to reach the free throw line just enough to keep the Eagles at a distance.

“When we’re tired, we can’t give up,” said Gober. “We’ll get better from this.”

Next up: Lakeview next hosts Chattanooga Christian 3 p.m. today. Riverside travels to Monroe to play George Walton Academy 4:30 p.m. today.

                  1st    2nd    3rd    4th    Final
LAKEVIEW    15    17    13    13    58
RIVERSIDE    8    8    13    21    50

LAKEVIEW ACADEMY

Daniel Fadool: 16 points, 5 assists
Tre Gober: 15 points
Drew Cottrell: 10 points
Carter Reeves: 6 points, 8 rebounds
Adam Cottrell: 6 points
Josh Randolph: 8 rebounds, 4 points
Evan Pitts: 1 point

RIVERSIDE MILITARY ACADEMY

Davis Short: 24 points
Javon Thompson: 15 points
Juwan Thompson: 8 points
Mason Green: 2 points
Bryant Rudolph: 1 point