The Russellville Cyclones basketball team opened its season with a 70-66 loss to the Fayetteville Bulldogs on Saturday in the Hoops for Hoodies showcase inside Charging Wildcats Gymnasium.

Fayetteville opened the game with back-to-back treys to go up 6-0, but Russellville battled back to pull within 16-13 by the end of the first quarter.

The Cyclones went on an 8-0 run in the second quarter to go up 21-16, but from there, the Bulldogs went on a 15-5 run, mostly from the free-throw line, to take a 31-26 lead into halftime.

Fayetteville hit six free throws in the second quarter. Russellville got into foul trouble early and ended up with three players fouled out of the game.

Meanwhile, most of the Cyclones' offense in the first half came either from the charity stripe or through the hands of Taelon Peter.

Russellville was 8-of-17 from the free-throw line in the first half and only hit one field goal outside of Peter's 17 first-half points.

The Bulldogs went up 46-43 after the third quarter, but the Cyclones battled back to tie the score 59-59 at the end of regulation. Russellville had a chance to come back until the final few seconds of the game, when Fayetteville hit a timely free-throw to put the game out of reach.