MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Faulkner was in for a dogfight in the only matchup standing between it and Kansas City, considering how 12th-seeded Huntington upset 5th-place Georgetown on Friday. The Foresters more than proved their mettle in this year's Montgomery Bracket of the NAIA Opening Round, but this one belonged to the hosts once again, as the Eagles regained its offensive productivity that had slipped somewhat in the conference tournament and against Florida Memorial on Friday. Faulkner sent Huntington home with an 88-80 win at Tine Davis Gymnasium on Saturday to emerge from the regional victorious and return to the Men's Basketball Championship Final Site.
The Foresters took their second four-point lead of the game with 9:49 left in the first half before the Eagles took off on a 12-0 run to go ahead 30-22. This stretch consisted of four Perry buckets, part of a huge 31-point performance in the redshirt senior's final game at Tine Davis, and two more from
Trace Hill. Huntington wasn't going anywhere, though, as three-pointers from Peyton West and Caleb Middlesworth sandwiched around Faulkner free throws brought their squad within four. A Zach Goodline trey that brought the margin to just one point, and it would be again at halftime.
Perry was sure to open the second half with points, as he collected his own miss and lifted up a one-hander into the bucket, and
Daniel Garmendia, also in his last game at home, followed with a triple. Buckets by Middlesworth, Ben Humrichous and Goodline tied the score once again, and it would have given their team the lead if not for Goodline missing his and-one opportunity. As it was, Hill answered by converting his and-one to give his team the permanent lead. Up 47-44 with 15:42 left after an exchange of scores,
Isaiah Brooks continued his season highlight reel with a two-hand jam of an offensive putback off Hill's miss. After trading turnovers, coming via an errant pass by Goodline that went across the center line and out of bounds and a Hines charge on the ensuing inbound, Middlesworth was fouled but missed both free throws. Garmendia proceeded to knock down a step-back triple.
Goodline added a layup following two offensive rebounds by Humrichous, but Hines generated a response with a one-handed floater. In exchange with another Goodline score, Brooks scored on a three-point play to put his team up 57-48. Hill was fouled on a fast break and sunk the foul shots to put Faulkner ahead by double digits. Then, after Lane Sparks's rebound and make off his own miss, Hill found Brooks coming off the pick-and-roll, and the latter outdid himself once again by punishing the rim with both hands and throwing down the hammer over Sparks. The teams entered another back-and-forth sequence at this point, including one play on which Brooks came up with consecutive blocks on a possession that ended in a Huntington turnover.
Just as it appeared the Eagles were going to keep the opposition at arm's length, though, the Foresters showed they were still alive and kicking to earn the bid to Kansas City, as they tallied a 10-2 run, which included two buckets by Sparks and a pair of triples from Middlesworth, to narrow the Faulkner advantage to 67-65. Humrichous went to the charity stripe for a chance to tie it up again with 4:53 remaining, but his team again went away with no points to show for it.
Hines was then fouled in pulling down the offensive rebound after Brooks had tipped one out himself on the series after a Hines miss. The star guard missed the second, but Brooks claimed another offensive board. The former proceeded to dish from the elbow to Garmendia behind the arc, and the Venezuela native sunk the long-range shot. The four-point swing gave momentum back to the Eagles, and Perry laid the ball in following a Garmendia block to increase the lead to 73-65. In direct answer to a West three, Perry hit a trey of his own, his only one for the game despite his high scoring, and an old-fashioned three-point play with 1:57 left.
A heated moment occurred when, fresh off a Goodline charge, Sparks was whistled for a foul on Hines and then assessed a technical in jawing after the call. The free throws stretched Faulkner's lead to 81-68. Though the Foresters made some noise late with a quartet of threes on consecutive series, the Eagles got the points back on foul shots and one more layup from Hines. Garmendia's steal with six seconds left sealed the deal and made Faulkner's next destination official.
Despite just a 38.5% mark on three-pointers and just one make in the first half to Huntington's 45.5%, the Eagles made 52.5% of field goal attempts, including 60.7% in the second half, and 67.9% of free throws. The hosts achieved this with only eight assists to the Foresters' 12. The visiting team was close in overall shooting percentage with 43.5%, but made just 41.7% of foul shot attempts and was 0-for-5 after halftime. Faulkner led in points in the point with a whopping 48 to Huntington's 24, as well as points off turnovers 10-6 and fast break points 12-6.
Aside from Perry's monster day, each of the starters had extremely notable games, and all of the points were shared by these five. Hines racked up 21 points, nine rebounds and three assists, while Hill was next in line with 15 points. Garmendia poured in 12 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. Brooks contributed nine points, 12 boards and two blocks. Goodline and Middlesworth each led their offense with 20 points apiece; the former added six assists and four rebounds, and the latter seven rebounds. West tallied nine points, six boards and three dimes. Humrichous had eight points, seven boards and two blocks, while Sparks added 18 points for his team off the bench.
This marks the second year in a row that Faulkner has advanced to the Round of 16 with a win on its home court. Last year, the good times from the Eagles' Opening Round thrashing of Warner didn't last when, as an overall 4 seed, they were stunned by 13th-seeded Jamestown in Kansas City. Faulkner will not be favored this year, however, as they are set to meet none other than top-seeded Loyola. Needless to say, the Eagles are plenty familiar with the Wolf Pack from conference play, as the latter swept the SSAC regular season and tournament titles this season after the former did so last year. Faulkner handed 33-1 Loyola their lone loss of the season, a shocking 19-point win in Tine Davis as the visitors were coming off a layoff due to COVID-19. Outside of that game, the Wolf Pack have been almost unstoppable most of the time, as their squad then trounced the Eagles by 52 points in the return trip to New Orleans. The conference opponents will tip off at 3:00 p.m. on March 17 at Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium.
