Men Fall in Close Game to Defending Conference Champs on the Road

The Eagle men gave perennial Midwest Christian College Conferece (MCCC) powerhouse and defending champion Manhattan Christian College all they could handle in each team's conference opener in Manhattan, KS, last night. The Eagles ended up falling by six, 83-89, but continued to show improvement early on in the season. Faith is now 1-1 on the year and 0-1 in the MCCC.

The Eagles youth and early game jitters showed for the first part of the first half, as Manhattan built a 25-11 lead 10 minutes into the game. A steal and a dunk by Faith 's Jon Luke Talton with four minutes left in the half sparked the Eagles, but Manhattan was able to maintain the lead throughout the rest of the half. The Eagles fought hard, keeping the game within reach and trailing by 11 on an Aaron Leistikow bucket with a few seconds left in the half. The halftime score was 41-30 in favor of the defending champs.

The Eagles came out determined to make a game of it, cutting the lead to six with an opening 11-6 run three minutes into the second half. Manhattan showed why they are the defending champs, though, as they knocked down shots at important times, eventually pushing the lead back to double digits at 11 with 15 minutes to go in the game. A five to nothing run by the Eagles Leistikow pulled the Eagles back within six, but Manhattan again responded to build the lead back to 10 with under eight minutes to play. The Eagles called a timeout, and hit back to back threes on their next two possessions to pull within four, but Manhattan's hit a couple crucial three's himself, combined with a couple freethrows by the Crusader's Jack Mitchell pushed the lead back to twelve with five minutes to play. With time running out, the Eagles tried desperately to close the gap with a combination of pressure, fouls, and three point shooting, but could only get as close as the final six point deficit as time expired. "I'm really proud of these guys. We came in with a bunch of new guys still learning how to play with each other and pushed a veteran squad who was seeded #8 at last year's national tournament. We didn't give up the entire game. If we continue to improve as much as we have over the last week, we're going to have a solid team come tournament time," noted coach Fincham. 

As has been the theme so far, the Eagles freshmen trio of Leistikow, Cody Chaffin, and Talton led the Eagles. Leistikow had a monster game, pouring in 39 points while grabbing six rebounds. Chaffin added 21 points and three assists, while Talton had 12 points, two steals, and a team high seven rebounds. Jordan Marshall handed out eight assists on the night. The Eagles shot a blistering 48 percent from beyond the arc.

Faith has a quick turn around, traveling down to Haviland, KS, to take on another strong MCCC opponent in Barclay College in a 2 PM contest. Barclay finished last year as the regular season runner up and third place at the conference tournament.