Freeport might feel out of place tonight in its own gym.

After eight straight road games, the Pretzels will be home for the first time tonight against Auburn.

“It will be nice to get home and get some home cooking,” Freeport senior Ryan Hickey said.

The Pretzels only hope they’ll play as well in Freeport as they have these first eight games. Freeport improved to 6-2 (3-0 NIC-10) Thursday with an 82-59 win at East.

“We’re extremely happy,” Hickey said. “For us to go 3-0 so far is great because it’s a lot tougher to win on the road.”

The Pretzels led the entire way against East (0-7, 0-3 NIC-10) thanks to 21 points from Austin Davis and 20 from Ryan Hickey.

“Of the teams I’ve seen in the conference, I’d say Freeport is the best ‘team,’ ” East coach Roy Sackmaster said. “They play really well together as a team, and it makes it hard to guard them.”

The Pretzels started the game with a 12-2 run, and back-to-back 3-pointers at the end of the first quarter by Josh Lewis and Eric Douglas put Freeport up 26-11 heading into the second.

The Pretzels then dominated the second quarter, outscoring East 20-9 and taking a 46-20 lead at halftime.

After shooting 1-for-14 in first-half 3-pointers, the E-Rabs kept pace with Freeport in the second half with six 3-pointers — four of which came from Caleb Cooper, who was scoreless in the first half. But the lead Freeport built in the first half was enough to give the Pretzels the win.

“They’re down a little bit, but we still needed to play the same way we always play,” Hickey said. “Because as you saw in the fourth quarter, you give them a little hope, and they’ll come back for sure.”

Douglas chipped in 14 points for the Pretzels, and Jon Manson had eight rebounds.

“We’ve been able to spread the wealth and have had different leading scorers every game, and that’s fine with me,” Freeport coach Jeff Lawfer said. “We don’t have that superstar on our team, but I think that’s what makes us pretty good, to be honest with you.”

D’Wan Horton led the E-Rabs with 20 points, while Cooper finished with 12 and Davin Hinkle added 10 points.

Freeport will play host tonight to the only other NIC-10 team unbeaten in the conference in Auburn (5-1, 2-0).

“Auburn is supposed to be one of the best teams in the conference, so if we want to win the conference, we know we have to go through them,” Hickey said.

- Emily Tropp, rrstar.com