MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Faulkner trailed by as many as 17 and narrowed it to four before succumbing to Bethel 77-65 Saturday afternoon. The Jimmy Faulkner Classic ended in a sour way for the Lady Eagles as starters
Nequoia Adams and
Ruthie Smith fouled out during a fourth quarter comeback effort that saw Bethel polish off the victory by making just one shot from the floor in the final five minutes of the game.
Faulkner opened the fourth quarter down 12 before an and-1 sequence to open the fourth moved the Bethel lead to 15. Then six straight Adams points and a
Neely Johns layup narrowed it to seven. Smith then put together a personal 5-0 run to cut the game to 56-52 with 6:35 to play.
The Lady Eagles could draw no closer as Bethel made 18 of 21 free throws in the fourth quarter.
A slow start left Faulkner at a significant disadvantage as the Lady Eagles scored just seven points in the first quarter and shot only 14.3 percent in the opening period. Faulkner made four of 13 shots from the floor in the second and trailed 31-21 at half.
Adams had 20 points to lead Faulkner while
Dee Guinn added 12 along with four assists and two steals off the bench.
Faulkner (3-3) opens conference play Thursday when it travels to Loyola.
