Men Grind Out Road Victory

The Eagle men extended their win streak to five with a road win over Emmaus Bible College last night. The win avenged an early season 15 point home loss to Emmaus, and improved the Eagles to 6-10 overall. Faith won by a final of 64-55.

Early on Faith looked like they would control the game for another solid win, as they jumped up 10-4 on Emmaus in the first three minutes. However, over the next six minutes Faith went 1-5 from the floor and turned the ball over four times which allowed Emmaus right back in the game. The game then went back and forth, with Faith barely managing to keep the lead until Emmaus tied the game at 18 apiece with seven left in the half. Faith jumped back up four at 22-18, but Emmaus responded by tying the game at 24 apiece and then took a one point lead on a free throw. Emmaus then extended the lead to six, 30-24 with a minute and a half to play in the first half. Tyler Betz was able to net a basket for the Eagles and Faith held Emmaus scoreles to trail 26-30 into the break. Faith made some defensive adjustments at hafltime and opened the second half with a 5-0 run to lead 31-30, but Emmaus quickly re-took the lead and built it up to five at 38-33. The game was then back and forth for the first ten minutes of the second half, with a Tyler Betz three tying it at 40 apiece with 10 to play. Betz scored all 14 of the Eagles points during that ten minute stretch, but picked up his fourth foul just prior to knocking in the game tying three, and had to go to the bench. Betz's teammates responded with some inspired play over the next five minutes, as they put together a 12-5 run capped at both ends by three's from Jordan Marshall and Josh Whitlow. Emmaus hit a three to pull back within four, but that was as close as they would get as Betz re-entered the game and hit a shot and a free-throw followed by Eric Young knocking down a jumper and a freethrow to extend the lead to 10 with a minute and a half to play. Faith then hit freethrows and a couple layups as they broke the press to win the game, 64-55.

Tyler Betz led all scorers with 25 points, while grabbing 15 rebounds. Eric Young grabbed 12 rebounds on the night while handing out five assists. Jordan Marshall had seven assists, and Dillon Gingerich added 12 points and grabbed two steals.

Faith will be home this Friday and will host AFLBS in an 8:00 PM contest. The game will be the showcase contest for the annual Midwest Invitational Shootout basketball tournament for Christian high schools which Faith hosts each year. It will also be senior night for Tyler Betz, with the senior recognition coming before the start of the men's game.