PANAMA CITY, Fla. – Faulkner utilized clutch shooting and an overwhelming performance off the glass to win its first game in bracket play 87-69 over Baptist Bible College on Day 2 of Battle at the Beach at Billy Harrison Fieldhouse. Still under the leadership of assistant coach Jake Mitchell, the Eagles advanced to the Bay Bracket championship game at 7-1 on the season and 8-0 all-time in the history of the tournament. 

The defense and rebounding gave the Eagles the advantage on a day when its offense struggled to find consistency, shooting just 39.7 percent on field goal attempts and 29.5 percent from beyond the arc. However, they shot 70.6% from the charity stripe and led in every other category except points in the paint and steals, holding Baptist Bible to 38.1 percent from the floor and 22.7 percent from three, the latter of which translated to holding them to five makes on 22 attempts. As for the rebounds, Faulkner tallied 54 total, tying the sixth highest mark in program history, to the opponent's 38, evenly split between offensive and defensive. The 27 offensive boards are a new program record, as Trace Hill's final two boards in the last eight minutes of the game pushed his team over the previous mark of 25, set in 2005 against Auburn University at Montgomery. 

Faulkner had to overcome an early deficit and a second half rally to pull away from the Patriots, the defending Association of Christian College Athletics national champions who joined the National Christian College Athletic Association before this season. Baptist Bible was coming off a Monday loss to Loyola, the No. 2 ranked team in the NAIA polls, where the former gave an outstanding team a run for their money in the second half after failing to keep pace with the Wolf Pack's high-octane offense in the first. 

Down 12-6 over three minutes into the contest, J.C. Norris checked in and continued his penchant for the three-ball, his first putting his team within three and beginning a massive 37-17 run that continued for almost the remainder of the first half and put Faulkner in the driver's seat. Norris almost had two consecutive long-range shots go in, but Hill tipped the second one in himself for two points on a play where he almost committed basket interference. Jamel Cleveland tied it at 13 all when he got an offensive rebound and bucket. Faulkner took its first lead since the opening minutes at 18-17 when Daniel Garmendia knocked down a three of his own. He extended the lead to three when he added an off-balance jumper after an offensive board by Hill, and Hill did the same in assisting the next score, a C.J. Hines three. The next Patriot scores were responded to with another Garmendia trey after Jalon Perry rebounded and assisted off his own miss, and Hines added the next eight points off two threes and a steal and layup. The last three came after Hines had the ball stolen, but Baptist Bible's Nick Coble promptly stepped out of bounds shy of halfcourt. The final highlights of the run came on a Norris steal that turned into a Jalon Perry one-handed slam, another three by Norris and a Garmendia layup following a steal by Hines. 

The Patriots scored nine of the last 13 points in the half, but Faulkner still went into the locker room with a 46-36 advantage. Baptist Bible came out swinging in the second half with an 8-2 run that included two of their five threes on the day. However, Garmendia answered the bell once more with consecutive treys to push the score to 54-46, the first of them coming after Hill corralled a loose ball that was nearly stolen and assisted to the Venezuelan guard waiting behind the arc. Six of the Eagles' next 10 scores came after more offensive boards, which added up to a 69-57 Faulkner lead. After Hill and Perry responded to Patriot scores with alternating buckets and a three-point play by Hines to extend the lead to 80-63, the Eagles did the rest of their damage with free throw shooting and a final Hines steal following an inbound to a Hill layup that sealed the deal. 

Hines showed up all over the stacked score sheet with 23 points, 12 boards, two assists, two blocks and three steals. Hill rebounded from a down performance against Brescia with his highest points total of the season, collecting 19 points, 12 rebounds and three dimes. Garmendia continued his tournament tear by scoring 17 points, just one less than what he scored yesterday. Perry registered 12 points, five boards and four dimes. Newcomer Jeremy Jordan showed out in his eight minutes in the second half, with eight points, including two threes. Norris added a pair of both assists and steals to go with his two three-balls, still the only type of shot he has made this year, and Cheikh Ndiaye claimed two blocks. Garmendia, Isaiah Brooks, Norris, Cleveland, Ndiaye and Derrick Donigan each added three rebounds to their team's total. 

Faulkner now heads into the bracket-clinching game in the final game of the tournament schedule on Wednesday before leaving to celebrate Thanksgiving the next day. The Eagles will defend their unblemished Battle at the Beach record against a hot Rust College team. The Bearcats came from behind in the nightcap today and won in an all-time classic. After surrendering their first lead of the second half with nine seconds to go, Rust hit a last-second shot off the glass to stun nationally ranked LSU-Shreveport 65-64. Faulkner defeated Rust last season in Tine Davis 97-74 in the only previous meeting between the schools.