MONTGOMERY, Ala. - It was a tightly contested race with 10 minutes to go but an 11-0 run in just over two minutes allowed the Eagles (14-6, 5-4 SSAC) to pull away down the home stretch from Abraham Baldwin (5-11, 1-7 SSAC) for a 98-82 win in the first SSAC meeting between the new four-year squad as
Jonathan Garcia went off for a career high 31 in Tine Davis Gymnasium.
With 10:07 to play, Chris Foster hit a three to tie the game for Abraham Baldwin who hung close and occasionally held narrow leads for the first half hour, but the Eagles ramped up defensively and held the Stallions scoreless on back-to-back possessions culminating with
Maliek Sadler swiping the ball and
KJ Rogers getting on the break to lay up the go ahead bucket. Garcia knocked down a three before
Joe Webster's back-to-back buckets shocked ABAC to a nine point difference before Rogers added another jumper to complete the 11-0 run and jump to a 75-64 lead.
Garcia knocked down 20 in the first half before dropping 11 in the second with perfect shooting from behind the arc to eclipse his previous high of 29 set earlier this month. The Texan was perfect in his 10 shots from the charity stripe. Rogers was quiet in the first half with just three points before erupting in the second half shooting 80 percent from the floor and perfect from the stripe for 21 points. The Eagles forced the Stallions into 19 turnovers with 10 steals.
Sadler collected a double-double with a team high 10 boards to couple 11 points. Sadler also shared a team high in steals and assists.
The biggest difference in the box score came from free throw efficiency with Faulkner hitting 86.7 percent of its free throws with 26 makes while ABAC scuffled shooting just 47.1 percent with eight makes.
Faulkner welcomes Point Thursday night at 7:30 to Tine Davis Gymnasium for game two of a five game homestand.
