SEARCY --- Marion junior guard Jayden Forrest seemingly felt no pressure down the stretch last Friday night at Lion Gymnasium in Searcy. Forrest scored the last eight points last night, all from the free-throw line, to push the Patriots (14-3 overall, 3-0 5A East) to a 56-51 victory. The junior top recruit's eight freebies down the stretch spanned the game's final 49.4 seconds. Forrest, who connected on all 10 free-throw attempts in the contest, recorded a game-high 18 points and handed out seven assists. "I'm proud of my guys because they never got rattled, and they had chances to do so," said Marion coach David Clark. "We didn't always play great defense, or rebound the ball well, but we did everything well enough to win." Marion, playing without a pair of starters, was slow out of the gates in White County. Searcy forced 10 turnovers in the first quarter, and led 9-2 late in the opening stanza, but Searcy had to settle for an 11-8 advantage after eight minutes. The Lions claimed an eight-point (22-14) bulge with 4:31 left in the second quarter when Zyron Williams canned a three-pointer, but Marion closed on a 12-4 run behind seven points and a pair of assists by Forrest. A Forrest layup beat the halftime buzzer to tie the game at 26 as the teams hit the lockers. Ryan Forrest, cousin to Jayden, scored eight of the first 10 points of the second half, and Ryan Forrest's assist to Kayden Nesbit gave Marion its first double-digit lead of the game (38-28) with 1:51 left in the third quarter. The Pats led 40-32 after three. Marion led by 12 points on two occasions in the fourth quarter, and by nine points with 2:12 left in regulation when Searcy made three three-pointers on consecutive possessions to tie the game at 48 with 58.2 seconds remaining. Jayden Forrest gave Marion the lead (50-48) for good with a pair of charities with 49.4 seconds left, adding a pair of freebies following a Searcy turnover with 21.5 seconds remaining. But an Isaiah Carlos three-pointer got Searcy within 52-51 with 9.8 seconds remaining, setting the stage for Jayden Forrest to make his last four free throws to close out the game. Ryan Forrest scored 16 points for Marion, while Kayden Nesbit added 10 points. Williams and Carlos each scored 11 points for Searcy. Marion hosts Batesville on Tuesday night at Fidelity Bank Arena. Boys action will tip at approximately 7:30 p.m. The game will be livestreamed on MarionPatriots.com and on the Marion Patriots Activities Network mobile app.