MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Even though the night had seemed choppy for Faulkner through 28 minutes, Scott Sanderson's Eagles still just trailed No. 3 Talladega 44-42 after a Marquis Grays' runner in the lane. From there, however, things went south in a hurry as the Tornadoes stormed through Tine Davis Gymnasium, completely dominating the final 12 minutes en route to a 79-59 victory here Saturday night.

The man most responsible for the late-game stretch was senior forward Courtney Mack, who had 22 points and 12 rebounds – many of which came in the decisive run. In this instance, the statistics did not lie, with the Tornadoes (6-2) flexing their muscles in most every category. Talladega made 48 percent of its shots from the field to just 37 percent for Faulkner. The Tornadoes made 42 percent of their 3-point tries, while the Eagles could knock down just 25 percent. At the free-throw line, the victors made 80 percent of its chances to Faulkner's 52 percent. And on the glass, the bigger and stronger visitors outrebounded Sanderson's team 42-26.

"That was a beat down and there's no other way to put it," Sanderson said. "They did everything better than we did tonight, and those last 12 minutes were tough to watch. Our team is about to watch it again, though, in the locker room so they can see just how bad it was."

The game was tied at 11 early before Talladega outscored 16-4 run for a 27-15 advantage with 7:38 to play in the half. The Eagles were able to trim the deficit to 35-28 at the break, and caught the Tornadoes at 39 at the 15:33 mark of the second half. Mack's 3-pointer then gave Talladega the lead for good and, after Grays' basket, never looked back.

Jordan Washington complemented Mack's effort with 19 points of his own, with Qua Doster adding 10. Faulkner (2-2) was paced by Grays' career-high 20 points, while Nick Drake finished with 16 and Lucas Luttrell 10.

Faulkner travels to Selma Tuesday night to battle Concordia. The tipoff is set for 7:30.