COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Eagles found a way in as much of a seesaw First Round matchup as possible, winning the end game sequence as they upset the No. 6 ranked and No. 5 seed Pikeville Friday night at the Arena of Southwell Complex to advance to the Second Round.

Faulkner led by as much as 11 before the AAC regular season champions climbed back to lead by nine, but in a rematch of the 2001 semifinal, it was again a night for an Eagles celebration. 

Pikeville's Zion Blevins missed two free throws with a one point lead and 2:45 to go and Jordyn Turner-Durley's first three of the night gave Faulkner a 65-63 lead with 2:32 to play. After Pikeville converted the front end of the one-and-one, Tanner Vogel got a layup to push up four. LA Walker hit a floater with 90 seconds to go to make it 67-65. 

Vogel grabbed an offensive rebound with 1:02 to play and was fouled on the floor. He made both ends of the one-and-one to make it a four-point lead again. Keynan Cutlip hit a three with 38.9 seconds to go to make it 69-68 and give Faulkner the ball. 

The Eagles held and KJ Rogers missed a shot under heavy defense with 10 seconds to go, allowing Pikeville to draw up a play with seven seconds to go on their half of the court to try to win it. Coach Tigh Compton put the ball in the hands of the two-time AAC Player of the Year Bradley Bunch, but the defense was unphased and forced the shot short, sending the Eagles to the Round of 32. 

Faulkner rode a 17-4 run from a 19-17 deficit into a 34-23 lead with three three pointers and two steals. Pikeville pushed back with a 9-2 run to close the half but Faulkner led 36-32 after 20. 

The Eagles went on a drought for the first bit of the second half that the Bears were able to capitalize on for a 12-0 run as Rivera snapped the run with a layup at 12:46.

Pikeville grew its lead to as much as nine with 7:21 to play, but Rogers and Francois-Dony Baba scored 11 of the next 13 points for the Eagles to set the stage for Turner-Durley's lead-taking three. 

The Eagles once again dominated the glass, with a 41-29 advantage overall and 13-6 offensively, turning that into 16 second chance points.

Faulkner held a team that shot nearly 40 percent from deep to 8-30 on the night and prevented the nation's best free throw shooting team to just eight attempts with the Bears missing half of them. 

The Eagles saw balanced scoring, getting a team-high 16 from Rogers, 15 from Rivera, 13 from Turner-Durley and 10 from both Baba and Vogel.

Vogel got yet another double-double with 14 boards. Rogers led with six assists. 

The Eagles now turn their attention to a 2 p.m. tipoff against host Columbia Saturday with the winner going to Kansas City. 
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