Poor Offense, Poor Defense Snaps Win Streak

The Eagle men saw their seven game winning streak come to an end tonight as an inspired Central Christian College of the Bible (CCCB) team handed Faith a 65-79 road defeat. The loss drops the Eagles to 8-11 on the year and back below .500 in the conference at 3-4.

Faith simply could not find any energy the entire night, as CCCB quickly jumped on Faith to start the game with a 12-4 lead. Faith would make runs but then falter defensively or rush on offense, which helped CCCB maintain that lead for much of the first half. To their credit, the Eagles didn't go away, finally putting together a few stops defensively and playing more efficiently on offensive to rally for a 13-6 run to tie the game at 29 apiece. Cooper Rodman then hit two free throws to give the Eagles the 31-29 lead. CCCB would hit one of their own freethrows before the half ended to pull within one at the break. 

Out of the break, CCCB played inspired basketball while the Eagles looked sluggish on both ends of the court. The Saints quicly took the lead back, then kept pushing, running out a 13-0 start to the second half to lead by 10, 41-31. Faith turned the ball over twice and went 0-5 during that stretch, while defensively failing to make even one stop. That lead would prove to be enough as Faith would get no closer than six the rest of the night. After Faith pulled within six, CCCB hit a shot out of a timeout, then forced a turnover and hit a three, going back up by 11 and effectively ending the game. "We were bad all around tonight," noted coach Fincham. "We haven't been playing with any passion in practice and it showed tonight. We were impatient on offense and outworked on defense. CCCB played well and wanted it more. They earned the win and we would do well to learn from them."

Tyler Betz led the Eagles with 37 points and 15 rebounds. Jordan Marshall had four assists and Josh Whitlow had three steals. As a team the Eagles shot a miserable 28% in the second half and 34% for the game. Faith was just 14% from behind the arc. The Eagles will have get things figured out quickly as they will travel to St. Louis, MO on Saturday for a game with St. Louis Christian College. That game will tip at 4 PM.