MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Faulkner broke open an early defensive struggle to put away the Florida Memorial Lions 84-71 Saturday night at Tine Davis Gymnasium to close the second day of the Battle at the Beach.
The game was still scoreless after the first three and a half minutes before
Derrick Donigan made a nice bucket to open the scoring. After Cheikh Kebe staked the Lions to a brief lead with a 3-pointer off the backboard,
Jordan Hamlette answered with his own three after a pair of missed Florida Memorial free throws. With 5:02 left in the half, the Lions tied the game when Tristan Stephens followed his steal with a bucket, but Hamlette gave his team the permanent lead at 28-26 with a layup.
In the final 90 seconds until halftime, Faulkner began a run by taking advantage of free throws following a technical and personal foul on Quincy Urbina.
Daniel Garmendia then got a steal, and the layup after getting a defender off of him by twirling the ball behind his back.
C.J. Williamson added two buckets, one with two seconds on the clock, to give Faulkner a 10-point advantage at the half.
In the second half, Faulkner had a response each time FMU tried to make a rally. After the Lions made it a closer game two minutes into the period, the Eagles got up to their largest lead of the game via a run that began with four consecutive buckets off of turnovers or steals. With 8:03 remaining,
Trace Hill made what may have been the defensive play of the game when he intercepted an inbound and passed it to Hamlette for a 17-point lead.
Faulkner had a greater shooting percentage in every category, including making 20 of 26 free throw attempts in a game where the teams combined for 46 fouls. The Eagles also tallied 42 points in the paint to the Lions' 26, and 26 points off turnovers compared to FMU's 12.
For the fourth time in as many games, Williamson led the Eagles statistically with 23 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals. Hamlette also made his presence felt, racking up 16 points, five boards and five assists.
Garrett Sanderson scored 14 points, six boards, two assists and four steals. Kebe, though not a starter, led his team with 17 points and six rebounds, and Urbina was next with 14 points and four rebounds. No FMU player had more than two assists.
Faulkner has still yet to fall this season, upping its record to 5-0 with a Sunday afternoon matchup against Keiser coming up to end the tournament. Florida Memorial falters to 1-4, as they get set to take on William Carey.
