MONTGOMERY, Ala. – After giving up its most points in a first half and second most in any half of play all season, Faulkner was in serious danger of falling to the rank of a one-and-done in the SSAC Tournament for the first time since 2018-19. The Running Eagles of Life had converted a jaw-dropping 71.43% of its shot attempts and 60% of its threes to claim a 53-44 halftime lead in the quarterfinal matchup of second and seventh seeds at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl on Thursday afternoon, putting the No. 2 hometown Eagles firmly on upset alert.
However, the Faulkner defense woke up to completely flip the script in the second half on the way to an 83-81 win in another down-to-the-wire finish between the two sides to help the Eagles (25-4, 16-4 SSAC) send Life (19-10, 11-9 SSAC) packing and live to fight another day in the conference semifinals.
The Eagle D forced seven of Life's 12 turnovers, to just five by the Faulkner offense, after halftime, en route to winning points off turnovers 19-2. The Running Eagles were only able to score on 32.14% of its shot attempts in the second half, did not convert a single three and only managed five points and one field goal in the last five minutes of the contest. In a game of heavy runs, the Eagles shot 42.2% from the floor, 45.8% from three and 72% from the charity stripe.
Down 57-46 with 17:59 left in the contest, Faulkner clawed to within three by getting buckets on three consecutive possessions and allowing no points in the span, scoring via an
Isaiah Brooks layup and threes from
Trace Hill and
Daniel Garmendia. In response to a pair of Life baskets, Garmendia drained another three and
Jonathan Garcia made a layup to answer Life free throws.
With the margin still at three points, the Eagles completely erased its earlier deficit with a three from
Derek Murphy that tied the game at 63 following a Life offensive foul with 11:12 remaining in the contest. With 10:39 left, Hill gave his team its first lead since the 8:46 mark of the first half with an old-fashioned three-point play. After Life tied the game back, Hill then put his team ahead again with a three-point basket on a possession set up by another offensive foul. The game went to a back-and-forth stretch, which ended when Life made a 6-0 run on layups and free throws to reclaim the lead at 76-73 with 5:02 left in the game.
Hill got back within one by collecting the rebound off the miss and putting it through the hoop. Following a pair of Life turnovers,
C.J. Hines scored on a jumper to tie it and a free throw with 1:02 left to put Faulkner up by one. He wasn't through, as he laid it in while being pushed to the ground on a crucial and-one and took advantage with 22 seconds on the clock to give his team a two-score lead. However, Joshua Ward, the points leader with 33 for Life who fouled Hines on the score, had his own three-point play to pull the Running Eagles back within one.
On the ensuing possession, Dara Olanade put Brooks on the line for a one-and-one, but the shot missed and Life called its last timeout with ten seconds to go. Olanade was stopped on the drive, but Hill was whistled for a foul. With the Faulkner fans and students rising to the occasion in full force, the first free throw rimmed out before the second one found the bottom of the net.
Coach
Scott Sanderson promptly called his final timeout with the game now tied and put the ball in the hands of the newly-minted SSAC Player of the Year. Hines took it the distance of the court off the inbound. Upon reaching the paint, he got the foul call on the attempted layup to set up the obligatory free throws with 1.4 seconds left. The two shots were nothing but net, and the last gasp from the Running Eagles sailed over the backboard.
Hines made good on his conference awards by heading the offensive attack, racking up 27 points and seven assists. Hill came in second place for the Eagles with 18 points and nine rebounds. Murphy scored 14 points as he was the second Eagle, along with Hines, to come away with a pair of steals. Brooks led the battle underneath with 12 points and 10 boards.
Faulkner moves on to face six-seed Blue Mountain Christian on Friday night at 7 p.m., as the Toppers knocked off third-place Mobile in Thursday's nightcap. If top-seeded Loyola wins its 3 p.m. matchup with five-seed Stillman, Faulkner can claim the SSAC's second automatic national tournament bid with a win and would face the Wolf Pack on Saturday night for the tournament title.
