Betz's 38 Not Enough as Eagles Drop Opener

Returning to the floor completely healthy for the first time in a year, the Eagles Tyler Betz showed why he's a first team All American candidate again this year, scoring 38 points on the road at Ashford University. A short bench and some early second half mistakes led to a loss for the young Eagle's team, but much improvement was shown over last year's opening game at Ashford. 

Last season the Eagles managed just 33 points and committed 33 turnovers in a 33-65 road loss. Faith entered the contest with just eight men suited up, and new they were going to have to play very hard and smart in order to not get run out the gym early. The Eagles did just that, coming out attacking from the beginning offensively as they jumped out to a 7-1 lead. Ashford made a 9-0 run out of a timeout to take a 10-7 lead, and from there for the rest of the second half the game went back and forth. Betz got hot during that stretch and the Eagles were able to re-take the lead a couple more times before Ashford re-took control of the game and was able to gain a double digit lead into the break.

Out of the break, the Eagles took a few ill advised shots along with committing a few turnovers in a row, something they had done a good job avoiding for much of the first half. Ashford took advantage as they quickly jumped the lead up to 20 and kept it in that range for the rest of the half, winning by a final of 90-61. "I was really pleased with the first half, and really, the effort overall. With only eight guys on the bench, our guys showed a lot of heart. We competed the entire game and every young man played hard and didn't quit. We have a lot of good things to build on out of today," noted coach Fincham.

Betz finished the game with 38 points, while newcomer Cooper Rodman added 12 while handing out three assists. Freshman Jason Scheps had a nice game off the bench, as he grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Eagles.

The Eagles return to action on Tuesday, November 6th, at 7:00 PM at William Penn University. That game will also be an exhibition contest for the Eagles. William Penn is currently ranked #19 in the NAIA II national poll.