MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Faulkner (1-0) ran away from Milligan (0-1) late as
Micah Thomas became unstoppable over the last six minutes of the 91-80 victory as Eagles opened the season in Tine Davis Gymnasium in the Jimmy Faulkner Classic.
The first 34 minutes did very little to separate the two teams opening the season in the annual tipoff event at home for Faulkner as the score stayed within three possessions most of the evening. With Faulkner trailing 68-66 with 5:59 to play, Thomas, who hit a game-tying three in the overtime of the season opener last year, showed the clutch gene carried into his sophomore year, dropping 16 points and stealing three possessions from the Buffaloes to close out the win.
The sophomore from Opelika flushed a layup to tie it before drawing a foul on the next possession to take the lead with a pair of free throws. After Milligan missed the front end of a one-and-one,
Francois-Dony Baba and Jackson Simmons traded layups to keep it. Thomas hit another layup with 4:28 to go to take a 74-70 lead before
Christian Richards stole the ball, setting
Jordyn Turner-Durley up for another bucket.
After Milligan hit three free throws to cut the lead back to three, Thomas dished an assist to
Levi White before stealing the ball and dunking the Eagles into an 80-73 lead with 3:24 to play. It was the first of four straight possessions in which Thomas scored, sparking a personal 10-2 run over 1:49 seal the season opening win at 88-75
The Eagles are undefeated in season openers under
Scott Sanderson who began his 13th season as head coach in the win. Faulkner has won every season opener since the 2011-12 season for 16 straight wins in the year's first contest. Sanderson has won 21 consecutive season openers, including his last eight seasons at Lipscomb, starting in the 2005-06 season.
Thomas finished the night with 24 points on 10-13 shooting, four steals, seven rebounds and three assists in just 19 minutes.
Baba and White each had 16 points.
Jamarious Martin led the team with seven assists with nine points. Turner-Durley also had nine points and four steals.
Faulkner takes on Talladega, who picked up a 97-90 win over William Carey earlier Friday, Saturday night at 7 p.m to conclude the Jimmy Faulkner Classic.
