MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Faulkner won its sixth straight game and 10th in its last 11 Saturday when it dropped a receiving votes Loyola team 91-82. The Wolf Pack shot an administrative technical free throw due to a shot clock issue before the game ever started, taking a 1-0 lead.
Tanner Vogel sank a pair of free throws just 19 seconds later to put the Eagles on top. Faulkner never trailed again.
The Eagles carried a 13-point lead into the locker room at halftime and ballooned it to 20 on a Kamal Green layup with 16:02 remaining. That's when the Wolf Pack went to work. A 9-2 run highlighted by a pair of Cameron Williams threes cut it to 13. Shortly thereafter, a 4-0 spurt from Kameron Johnson jump-started an 11-4 run that narrowed it to 65-57 with 9:49 to play. Another 10-3 stretch got the Wolf Pack to within six by the 5:45 mark.
Things got really interesting when Johnson knocked down a three with 5:06 left. Green answered and Kosta Bjelicic traded layups before
Gabriel Rivera knocked down a pair of free throws to leave it 79-72 with 3:11 to go. Leonard Jackson then got hot with a pair of threes, cutting it to 81-78 with 2:20 left in the game.
With the game as tight as it had been since the opening moments, Vogel took over. He caught a well-threaded pass from
Jordyn Turner-Durley and powered through the contact for a dunk and the bonus free throw with 51 seconds remaining. Vogel then knocked down two more free throws with 43 seconds on the clock to move it to 86-78.
Francois-Dony Baba notched a pair of free throws with 29 seconds left. Rogers added one more before Vogel hit a pair to ice it.
Loyola took the rebounding battle 33-29 while shooting 44.4 percent from the field and 17 of 27 at the free throw line. The Eagles shot 50.8 percent from the floor while winning points in the paint 38-36.
Vogel finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds for his ninth double-double in the last 12 games. Rivera added 15 points while
Gideon Harris and Turner-Durley had 12 apiece. Rogers finished with 11 points.
Faulkner (20-7, 14-3 SSAC) finishes its regular season at Mobile Saturday, Feb. 21 at 2 p.m.
