MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Yesterday marked a full year since, after releasing the championship bracket, the NAIA national tournament was called off with the rise of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Faulkner Eagles would have been a No. 2 seed taking on Shawnee State.
Fast forward a year, and Faulkner basketball has not gone anywhere. After claiming the SSAC regular season and tournament championships, Faulkner is heading back to Kansas City to play for it all with its opening-round 106-73 victory over the Warner Royals on Saturday. The NAIA announced in late February that Faulkner University had been selected as one of the eight hosts for the opening two rounds of the National Championship tournament, where the Eagles were able to play just one game due to its No. 1 seed and first-round bye. The beginning rounds of the bracket, hosted across various sites for the first time due to the pandemic, at Tine Davis Gymnasium were a smashing success. Not only did the event go over mostly as planned, but the Eagles advanced on their home floor and claimed an opening round trophy in front of a crowd that registered as a sellout because of COVID-19 restrictions.
Montgomery Bracket A saw No. 3 seed Keiser advance on Friday via a last-second shot over Georgetown, but top-seeded Stillman, who Faulkner defeated to claim the conference tournament title, took down the Seahawks on Saturday to punch their ticket to Kansas City.
Faulkner took on No. 2 seed Warner, the Sun Conference regular season champions, in Bracket B with the Royals' emotional comeback victory over Tennessee Wesleyan on Friday night. Faulkner rode a 51.4% performance from the field, including a remarkable 55.2% mark on 3- pointers, while holding the Royals to 43.8% and six-of-22 from beyond the arc. The visitors from Lake Wales, Fla., were able to keep pace by virtue of outscoring Faulkner in the paint 44-32. The Eagles registered 75% efficiency on free throws; they took 24 shots at the charity stripe, thanks to the teams combing for 34 fouls. Warner also committed three technical fouls, following a trend, as its Friday matchup saw a combined five techs. Faulkner out-rebounded Warner 41-33 and forced 16 turnovers to its 11.
C.J. Williamson, in his first game back in Tine Davis since suffering an injury last month against Brewton-Parker, led the Eagles with 24 points and six boards.
Jordan Hamlette tallied 21 points, with five rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
Trace Hill racked up 15 points and 12 boards, and
Austin Rogers scored 15 more points, all via threes, with seven rebounds.
Garrett Sanderson and
C.J. Hines both had 14 points on four long-range shots each.
Daniel Garmendia added four more assists. Every Eagle available to play saw the court with
Derrick Donigan,
Derek Murphy,
Brandon Reeves, and Sakevian Hayes all checking in late. Rod Boggan led Warner with 22 points, and Josh Glesil scored 13 points and six rebounds. Logan West added 14 points, eight boards, and six assists.
Faulkner heads to nationals with a 26-2 mark, while Warner heads home with a final 19-7 record.
On Thursday, March 18, as part of the tournament's Round of 16, Faulkner will take on Jamestown (N.D.) at 5:30 in the Cramer Bracket. In the quarterfinals on Saturday, the winner will then face the victor of the match between Shawnee State (Ohio) and Bethel (Kan.), meaning that Faulkner could have an overdue matchup with the former on its hands.
