PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. – Faulkner improbably found a way to knock off No. 15 Florida Memorial 69-67 Tuesday afternoon in the Battle at the Beach. Competing without any of its post players available, Faulkner found itself at a stark disadvantage in the interior. The Lions took points in the paint 36-8 and out-rebounded the Eagles 49-28. As part of that onslaught, FMU pulled down 22 offensive rebounds but managed only 11 second-chance points due to a tenacious Faulkner defense.
After opening the game on an 18-8 run, the Eagles went ice cold while FMU went on a 19-3 run over a nine-minute stretch that flipped the game to a 27-21 Lion advantage. During the run, Faulkner managed just one bucket and went seven minutes without scoring.
The Eagles fought their way to a 32-29 halftime deficit before putting together a second-half run. FMU moved the lead to 40-31 at the 15:33 mark of the second half as Faulkner struggled to find answers. The response began in the person of
Jordan Johnson. The senior point guard parlayed a K.J. Rogers pass into a three with 14:19 left to start a 7-0 mini run. Rogers and Johnson combined to score the next eight Eagle points as the former assisted the latter on another three with 10:50 left to pull the game to a tie. Rogers converted a jumper with 9:53 remaining to give Faulkner a 48-47 lead. A pair of Johnson free throws gave the Eagles the lead again with 9:12 to go. The Eagles twice grew the lead to six before a Terrin Hamilton three with 4:12 remaining started an 8-2 Lion run to tie the game 65. Hamilton converted a fastbreak layup with 1:24 left to put FMU up 1:24.
Faulkner took a full timeout with 1:11 left and drew up a set for the answer. Rogers attacked the left elbow, drawing the double team. He then shoveled off to
Jeffrey Selden who had run the baseline toward the block. Selden caught the pass and flushed home the dunk for the tie with 1:03 left.
After the Eagles got the stop on the other end, they worked the ball to
Jonathan Garcia for an apparent corner three. He ball-faked his defender into the air and took the escape dribble to the mid-range where he pulled the jumper for the 69-67 lead and what proved to be the game-winning bucket. The Eagles then clamped down on the defensive end to force the turnover to seal the win.
Faulkner shot 44.7 percent from the field on the day while limiting FMU to 33.8 percent from the floor. Rogers topped the Eagles with 16 points, five rebounds and six assists. Johnson scored all 16 of his points in the second half while taking only six shots from the field. Garcia finished with 14 points.
Faulkner (9-1, 2-0 SSAC) returns to play Dec. 5 when it travels to William Carey.
