BY JOEL SELLERS

FAULKNER SPORTS NETWORK

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Milan Skundric (SR/Negotin, Serbia) made the go-ahead basket with two seconds remaining to give the Faulkner Eagles a 75-73 win over No. 8 Loyola at Tine Davis Gymnasium Thursday night. Despite trailing at halftime 37-33, the visiting Wolf Pack rallied to lead 45-44 with 16:11 remaining in the game. A field goal and a pair of 3-pointers by Garrett Sanderson (JR/Montgomery, Ala.) helped to put Faulkner back on top 52-47 with 14:08 left on the clock. The game was mostly back-and-forth from that point on, as Loyola eventually took the lead again with 3:32 left in the contest on a slam dunk by Terry Smith Jr. The Eagles took the lead back about a minute later, 72-70, with two free throws by C.J. Williamson (SO/Guntersville, Ala.). After a tying basket by Loyola's Tim Cameron with 1:21 left in the game, Skundric hit the game-winner after a steal by Williamson that later triggered a timeout call with 24.2 seconds remaining. Coming out of the break, Faulkner dribbled the clock down to just under 10 seconds before putting the ball in Williamson's hands. The sophomore forward attacked the lane and launched the ball just to the right of the rim where a diving Skundric corralled it and dropped in the game-winner.

Williamson was the leading scorer for the Eagles as he tallied 23 points as well as five rebounds, three steals and three assists. C.J. Jones (SR/Port Richey, Fla.) contributed 17 points, three rebounds, two steals, two blocks and three assists. Sanderson scored 10 points along with three rebounds and two steals. Skundric had 11 points, 11 rebounds  and two assists. Jamon Moore (SR/Albany, Ga.) added seven points and three assists. Faulkner was 43.1 percent on field goal attempts but shot 63.2 percent on free throws. Loyola grabbed 45 rebounds to Faulkner's 33, but the Eagles also had 15 assists compared to just three for the visitors.     

The Eagles' next game is also at home, as they host William Carey on Jan. 4.

"They play a few more guys. They'll play 10 or 11 guys, whereas Loyola only played like seven tonight," Faulkner coach Scott Sanderson said. "We've got to go a little bit deeper into our bench."

Faulkner improves to 11-3 on the season, and 2-1 in conference play.