The Saline basketball team bounced back from a tough loss at Chelsea Tuesday night and held off Ann Arbor Pioneer 50-43 in a key SEC Red matchup Friday.

The win moved the Hornets to 4-0 in the Red and kept them tied with Ypsilanti Lincoln for the top spot in the conference with a huge game at Ann Arbor Huron Friday night.

Saline wasted no time getting things going by jumping out to an 18-3 lead in the first, but Pioneer scored the last eight of the period to cut the lead to 18-8 after one.

The Hornets started the second with an 8-4 run to push the lead to 26-12 midway through the second, but again Pioneer would answer with a 6-2 run to make it 28-18 at halftime.

Pioneer opened the second half with a 9-2 run to move within three 30-27, but Saline answered with six straight to push the lead back to nine and led 36-30 after three.

The Saline lead would be cut to three 38-35 with six minutes remaining, but the Saline defense clamped down and the Hornets went on a 6-0 run to make it 44-35 and held off Pioneer for the win.

Jonathan Sanderson scored a game-high 25 points to lead Saline.

Lincoln Keyes was a force underneath with seven points and controlled the boards for the Hornets with 21 rebounds. LaDainian Woods netted seven points and Caleb Washington five, while Tommy Carr and Peyton Widen scored three each.

The win was the second road game for Saline in a stretch of seven straight way from its home court before wrapping up the regular season with six straight at home.

Saline improved to 9-2 overall on the season.