MONTGOMERY, Ala. – After a three-week pause in play due to COVID-19 protocols, the Faulkner Eagles finally took the floor again, albeit with only six players available. That proved to be irrelevant to the game's outcome, as Faulkner broke multiple individual and team records in a 107-41 romp over the outmanned Carver College Cougars at Tine Davis Gymnasium on Saturday.
Carver made the first field goal of the day to tie the score at 2-2, but two
Brandon Reeves free throws gave the home team the lead for good. The visitors would not score again until the 9:01 mark of the first half, and by that point, the Eagles had already built a 26-2 lead. Faulkner coasted into the locker room with a 45-19 advantage with total 32 rebounds and four of its players with at least nine points each.
Scott Sanderson's squad then actually managed to improve on those numbers in the second half, outscoring Carver 62-22 in the stanza and doubling the rebound tally. The win set team records with 64 boards, breaking the previous record of 60, and a 66-point margin of victory, all while coming three points short of the record for points scored in a game. Faulkner shot a whopping 65 percent from the court in the half, including 50 percent from long-range, to yield a game total of 52.4 percent, which stood in stark contrast to the Cougars' 22.7 percent, 14.3 percent from beyond the arc, and 33.3 percent mark on free throws.
"I just wanted them to play with energy," Sanderson said of his game plan. "I knew we were having to settle back to use my timeouts to rest our guys a little bit, and I wanted them to be solid defensively, and I thought we were. You know, I thought we played with a lot of energy, but six guys out, we played with a lot of energy, and we created a lot of baskets in transition. But probably the best thing was our defense. You know, just doing the right things, and we boxed and we had ball screens a lot. We did a good job with that, and so I was proud of our energy today with six guys."
The box score was as impressive as any team could hope for, with three players going over 20 points, four double-doubles, and
Daniel Garmendia being just a point shy of each player getting into double digits. Five of the players registered career-high games in scoring, and the one who did not reach that point,
Garrett Sanderson, had a career high in assists.
Brandon Reeves, who had averaged 9.5 minutes per game during his time at Faulkner until today, racked up 26 points, 20 rebounds and two assists, setting records for himself in every category, to go with two blocks and a steal. He also set the program record for individual game and defensive rebounds, breaking records previously set or tied by First Team All-SSAC
Milan Skundric in the last three years.
Trace Hill was not far behind with 23 points and 11 boards, while freshman
C.J. Hines, in the most extensive action of his short career, delivered in a big way with 23 points, five boards, and two steals.
Garrett Sanderson came up one rebound short of a triple-double, good for 16 points, 11 assists, and nine rebounds.
Austin Rogers, the former Alabama State Hornet, pitched in 10 points, 14 rebounds, and four assists. Garmendia, also in his most playing time in a Faulkner jersey, had nine points, five assists, four boards and two steals.
Faulkner improves to 3-0, while Carver falls to 0-3. The Eagles will stay home for their next set of games, as they host the Battle at the Beach tournament Thanksgiving weekend at Tine Davis. Their first contest in the event will be against Thomas University on Black Friday, followed by a Saturday evening game against Florida Memorial and a Sunday afternoon matchup versus Keiser.
