PANAMA CITY, Fla. – Things could scarcely have started much worse for Faulkner before an offensive explosion in the second half led to a 96-68 win over Carver Bible in the first round of the inaugural Battle at the Beach.

The Eagles opened 11 of 32 from the field in the first half and trailed by as many as 14 before it started to whittle away at the Carver lead. Faulkner made 10 free throws over the last 7:35 of the first half to help cut the halftime deficit to 41-34.

The Eagles came out blazing in the second half, shooting a blistering 20 of 37 from the floor including six out of eight from three to flip the game. C.J. Williamson (SO/Guntersville, Ala.) scored the first five points of the quarter to narrow the gap to 41-39.

At the 17:31 mark, Nate Bradley (SR/Concord, N.Y.) launched a quick 6-0 Faulkner run to put the Eagles up for the first time since the 18:01 mark in the first half. After Carver briefly recaptured the lead, Garrett Sanderson (JR/Montgomery, Ala.) dropped a three with 15:09 to play to put Faulkner up to stay. The Eagles began to put distance between themselves and Carver with a 9-0 run from 12:39 to 11:12. Faulkner put the game away with a 15-0 run that began at the 7:50 mark. Sanderson dropped three shots from deep during that stretch while Milan Skundric (SR/Negotin, Serbia) chipped in the other six points.

The Eagles won the rebounding battle 46-31. After the abysmal first half, Faulkner shot 44.9 percent from the floor, 47.1 percent from three and 70.3 percent from the free throw line.

Williamson led the way with 17 points to go along with eight rebounds in only 15 minutes of play. Sanderson and Jamon Moore (SR/Albany, Ga.) had 15 points apiece while Trace Hill (SO/Hartselle, Ala.) finished with 12.

Faulkner (7-2) returns to action Saturday at 5 p.m. in the second round of the Battle at the Beach at Gulf Coast State College when it takes on No. 11 LSU-Alexandria.