It took Faulkner about a minute of game action to wake up Tuesday night before it surged past Thomas University for an 81-66 road victory. The Eagles got their shooters going early and often in the contest, going 11 of 22 from three-point territory. Overall, Faulkner shot 51.7 percent from the floor and led by as many as 19 in the game.

"We've got five or six guys that can make the three. We feel like we can play in space because we've got so many guys that can shoot the ball and we've got quick guys that can get to the rim," Faulkner Head Coach Scott Sanderson said. "We feel like we're going to always have three or four guys in double figures every game."

Thomas last led at the 8:33 mark of the first half before C.J. Jones (JR/Port Richey, Fla.) drained a triple to knot the game at 23. Faulkner took a lead it would never lost on a Nate Bradley (JR/Concord, N.Y.) free throw with 7:20 left before half. Jones then went on a personal 5-0 run to stretch that advantage. That spurt was the start of a 13-1 run that saw the Eagles go from down three to up 11.

"We had two really good runs, one in the first half and one in the second half that really helped us maintain the lead," Sanderson said.

The Night Hawks got a pair of buckets to open the second half that allowed them to narrow the gap to three. The Eagles then embarked upon a 16-7 run that ran the advantage back into double figures. Faulkner later stretched the lead to 19 before the end of the night.

The game was the first in 10 days for Sanderson's group, an off period the coach felt helped his team after its sweep of the SSAC-Mid-South Challenge.

""The first minute of the game we didn't play well but we played pretty good," Sanderson said. "We took some time off and we practiced a little bit and got some guys healed up a little bit. After taking 10 days off I was pleased for the most part with how we played."

Rene Scott (JR/Mobile, Ala.) led all scorers with 20 points. Milan Skundric (JR/Negotin, Serbia) finished with 11 points while Adnan Halilovic (SR/Mali Zvornik, Serbia) had 10.

Faulkner (5-0) returns to action Saturday when it hosts Carver Bible at 1 p.m.