BRUNSWICK, Ga. - Faulkner held Coastal Georgia scoreless for four and a half minutes down the stretch and grabbed a key Southern States Athletic Conference road win here Thursday, knocking off the Mariners 66-60 at the Coffin Gymnasium.

A Coastal Georgia basket by Anissa Toumi at the 4:31 mark brought the hosts to within 58-57, but the Lady Eagle defense put the clamps on from there as Reed Sutton's team moved to 4-5 in the SSAC and 8-11 overall with the victory. Savana Flack, China Leary and Brandy Alley made baskets in the decisive closing minutes, with Flack and Erichea Barnes both adding free throws. Toumi made a meaningless 3-pointer at the buzzer for the Mariners, who fell to 7-12 overall and 2-7 in the league.

Faulkner used a hot-shooting third quarter to flip a two-point deficit at the half to a five-point lead heading to the final period. The Lady Eagles, with Barnes hitting a pair of 3s and Olivia Adamson nailing another, made eight of their first 11 shots in the quarter. The advantage stayed within five points until the Lady Eagles slammed the door with the late-game run.

Barnes finished with 19 points for Faulkner, which also got 13 points and 15 rebounds from Adamson. Flack added nine points and Faith LeGate eight, as the Lady Eagles shot 45 percent to Coastal Georgia's 23 percent in the final two quarters. Faulkner out rebounded the Mariners 35-22. Schyler Miller had 15, Janne Tullius 13 and Gabby O'Sullivan 11 for Coastal Georgia.

"I'm really proud of our team for how they really got after it defensively when the game was on the line late," Sutton said. "Our confidence continues to grow, and that usually happens when you start shooting it better and see good results. Winning on the road in this league is always big."

Flack and Adamson both hit early 3-pointers as the Lady Eagles raced to a 10-3 first-quarter lead. The Mariners scored the game's next 10 points, and things stayed tight for much of the rest of the half. Back-to-back 3-pointers in the final two minutes staked Coastal Georgia to a six-point advantage, but Barnes knocked in a long one from behind the arc and added a free throw that sent the teams to the locker room with the Mariners on top 34-32.

The Lady Eagles are in Mount Vernon, Ga., Saturday afternoon to face SSAC foe Brewton-Parker. The game tips off at 1 central time.