BLUE MOUNTAIN, Miss. – Faulkner led the entire second half and held on late Thursday for a 68-64 SSAC road win against Blue Mountain. The teams volleyed the lead back and forth for the duration of the first half before Faulkner laid claim to it on a Jalon Perry fastbreak layup with 37 seconds until intermission. The Live Oak, Fla. native followed with a three ahead of the buzzer to leave the Eagles up five at the break. 

Faulkner carried that momentum into the second half with a 10-0 run, racing out to a 13-point lead by the 16:52 mark. From there, Blue Mountain gradually chipped away at the lead, siphoning the advantage down to seven on a Ty Jones jumper with 4:44 to play. A Jones free throw and a five-point spurt from Cole McGrath got the Toppers to within two with just 24 seconds to play. 
Isaiah Brooks connected on a layup eight seconds later to make it a two-possession game again before the Eagles added a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to ice the game. 

Faulkner shot 45.6 percent from the floor while the Toppers knocked down 44.1 percent of their attempts. Each team made only five three-point attempts while Blue Mountain won the rebound battle 31-28. 

A trio of Eagles posted 14 points to lead Faulkner. C.J. Hines had 14 to go along with eight rebounds and four assists. Brooks had 14 and three boards while Perry had 14 points, five rebounds and three assists. 

Faulkner (17-4, 9-2 SSAC) returns to action Thursday when it hosts Stillman at 2 p.m.