Faulkner surged late to close the deficit to single digits before falling to Bethel 82-72 Tuesday night in its first game in 45 days.

"It felt good to be playing again," Faulkner Head Coach Reed Sutton said. "We did a lot of good things. We were excited to be playing again."

The Lady Eagles trailed by 15 to open the fourth quarter before Channing Gafford swung the momentum with 9:16 to play. She connected on a pair of free throws and missed the third before stealing the ball and connecting on a layup through contact. Gafford returned to the line to knock down the bonus to finish the five-point trip and slice the deficit to 10. Morgan Holland later knocked down a three to cut it to nine before Millie Bryant answered at the other end.

Gafford went on a personal 4-0 run over a 35-second stretch to narrow it to eight again before the teams traded buckets to the finish.

Faulkner lost the rebounding battle 43-34 while Bethel outpaced the Lady Eagles 44-20 in points in the paint. Faulkner shot 38.8 percent from the floor in the contest.
Ashlyn Adkins paced Faulkner with 24 points to go along with six rebounds and two assists. Gafford finished with 20 points, two rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Faulkner (1-3) returns to action Thursday at 4 p.m. when it hosts Covenant College.