SELMA, Ala. – After faltering down the stretch in a home loss to No. 3 Talladega last Saturday, Faulkner head coach Scott Sanderson challenged his team to show more fight and to play with more heart in the future.

In its next game out, here Tuesday night against Concordia, that mission was certainly accomplished. Midway through the second half against the Hornets, at about the same point Saturday's game started slipping away, the Eagles took control and raced to a 72-63 victory.

Nick Drake, Monta Sanford and Jose Jimenez were the catalysts for the Eagles (3-2), who turned a one-point advantage with 11 minutes left into a 10-point lead with 2:24 to play. The Hornets made a late run to cut the deficit to five, but Faulkner made 11 free throws in the final two minutes to pull away.

Drake and Sanford each had 18 points to lead the Eagles, with Jimenez adding a career-high 13. Sanford and Jimenez were a combined 17-of-19 from the free-throw line, with Sanford hitting 10-of-11 and Jimenez 7-of-8. For the game Faulkner shot 81 percent from the stripe, which was a key to the victory according to Sanderson.

"Making free throws on the road to stay up is critical down the stretch," Sanderson said. "You can't simulate that in practice, and I'm proud of the way these guys responded. I thought Jose came off the bench and played extremely well, taking care of the basketball and making the free throws when we needed them. We took a step in the right direction tonight. We still have a long way to go, though."

Jermaine Washington had 20 points and Kelvin Atwood added 18 for Concordia. The two teams each had 30 rebounds, with Robert Baltruns' eight and Sanford's seven leading the Eagles' effort on the glass. Faulkner committed just eight turnovers in the game and forced 21, outscoring the Hornets 20-7 in points off the miscues.

"We guarded the dribble a lot better which made us not have to rotate as much and that helped us on the glass," Sanderson said. "That's it in a nutshell. And we only had one turnover in the second half. When you take care of the ball like that, you're going to give yourself a great chance to win."

The first half was a see-saw affair with neither team leading by more than five. It was tied at 29 in the final minute before Concordia's Greg Barnes' basket sent the Hornets to the locker room on top 31-29. Drake's 11 points kept the Eagles close through 20 minutes.

Faulkner begins Southern States Athletic Conference play Saturday in New Orleans against Loyola. The game tips off at 4 p.m.