MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Faulkner battled from underneath for most of the second half Thursday night in a 94-86 loss to Life University. The Eagles saw a halftime tie balloon into a 12-point deficit on a Chaze Harris layup at the 8:47 mark of the second half. Faulkner battled back into the game with a quick transition bucket by
Maliek Sadler that cut it to 72-64 with 6:43 remaining. Faulkner appeared poised to get back in the game as it defended on the ensuing possession and wore the shot-clock down to the end when Elias Ramirez buried a three from 37 feet to push the lead back to 11. The moment seemed to take the air out of the building and allowed Life to run the lead back to 13.
The Eagles managed a 10-4 run to get the game back to seven and got as close as six before Life free throws pushed the lead back to double figures again.
Faulkner opened the game with a flourish, stretching its lead to 11 when
Gabriel Rivera hit a three with 6:51 left in the first half. Life followed with a 16-3 run over the next six minutes that culminated with a Cortez Johnson layup at 50 seconds on the clock and the first Running Eagle lead of the night. K.J. Rogers answered with a drive on the other end which led to a foul and sent him to the line for two shots. He knocked down both with 22 seconds on the clock to tie the game at 40 headed to the locker room.
Jonathan Garcia topped Faulkner with 26 points.
Jeffrey Selden added a career-high 22 points to go along with six rebounds. K.J. Rogers contributed 16 points and nine rebounds while
Gabriel Rivera had 14 points.
Faulkner (16-7, 7-5 SSAC) returns to action Saturday when it hosts Loyola at 2 p.m.
