MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Faulkner pulled away late Thursday night, finishing the game on a 9-0 run to beat Talladega 72-58. In a game that saw the lead change seven times, the Lady Eagles trailed by five with 1:07 left in the first quarter before starting a 9-0 run to give themselves a 24-20 advantage.

Faulkner ran the lead to as many as nine by halftime and fended off another Talladega run in the third quarter to get the advantage as high as 14.

Despite playing with six players, Talladega stayed within striking distance until the final two minutes of the game. Neely Johns and Nequoia Adams were perfect from the free throw line in the final two minutes to help polish off the win.

"We didn't have our best game of the year but everybody played really hard. They competed," Jacob Roark, who served as acting head coach for the game with Reed Sutton out sick, said. Talladega tried to ugly the game up. They tried to slow it down. They played zone the whole time. That's not really how we like to play. Despite that, we found a way."
Faulkner shot 43.5 percent from the floor and 30 percent from beyond the arc. The Lady Eagles won the rebounding battle 41-33 and took points in the paint 40-22.

Adams scored 16 to top Faulkner while Morgan Holland finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Kinlee Varnell added 11 points while Evaiah Burrows had 10 points.

Faulkner (10-1, 3-0 SSAC) returns to action Saturday when it hosts fellow Receiving Votes team Philander Smith at noon.

"I think this next game is going to be completely different," Roark said. "Philander wants to play 1,000 possessions. They're going to want to fly up and down the court."