Balanced Attack Gives Eagles the Victory

The Eagle men concluded their opening season road trip with an exciting 74-72 win over Midwest Christian College Conference (MCCC) runner up Barclay College. After jumping up early on the Bears, the Eagles had to rally back in the second half to pull out the win. The victory moves Faith to 2-1 overall, and 1-1 in the conference.

The Eagles jumped up on Barclay 12-3 early, and looked to be in control of the game. Barclay fought back, though, as the Eagles offense faltered, using a quick 5-0 run to pull back within four. Faith maintained the lead over the next six minutes, before Barclay was finally able to tie the game at 20 apiece with under seven to play in the first half. Barclay took a one point lead, 27-26 with three minutes to play, then used an 11-3 run over the final three minutes of the half to take an eight point lead into the halftime break.

Out of the break, Barclay increased the lead to eleven, but Faith's Cody Chaffin and Jon Luke Talton began to warm up, putting together a 9-2 run to pull the Eagles back within one with just under 16 left in the game. The Eagles finally tied the game back up, then took the lead on a Timothy O'Tool post move, 51-49, with Aaron Leistikow increasing the lead to four on two free throws. Barclay responded with back to back jump shots to tie it at 53 all with under eight minutes to play in the game. Barcly put together a 9-4 run to lead by five with five minutes left in the game. Team captain Eric Young and Chaffin were determined not to let the Eagles lose, as they combined for their own 11-5 run to put the Eagles back up one with under three to play.

Barcly had one more run in them, though, as the tied it up, then took the lead 70-68 with a minute an a half to play. Aaron Leistikow was then fouled, and on the ensuing free throw attempt rebound, O'Tool was fouled. The Eagles were in the bonus, and O'Tool knocked down his first free throw to pull Faith within one. A miss by O'Tool on the second free throw ended up back in his hands and during the ensuin possession Aaron Leistikow was fouled. Leistikow made both free throws and the Eagles were back up one with 45 seconds to go in the game. Barclay got a shot off, missed it, grabbed the offensive rebound, and missed that shot as well before Jon Luke Talton was able to secure the rebound and find Eric Young down the court. Young was intentionally fouled on the layup attempt. Young showed great poise, knocking down both free throws to put Faith up by three. Leading by three with six seconds left, the Eagles called timeout, and out of the timeout, got a wide open look at a layup, which the Eagles missed but were fouled on. Faith sank the second free throw, giving them a four point cushion with about four seconds to play. Barclay scored a layup as time expired and the Eagles won a barnburner 74-72. "We showed some great poise this weekend. We played a tough game yesterday, and played in a pretty tough environment against an opponent who played hard the whole game today as well. We played pretty well as a team for quite a few stretches, I'm really proud of the effort the team gave. Once we clean up our turnovers, I think things are really going to start clicking!" noted coach Fincham.

In their most balanced game yet, the Eagles had five men finish in double digits. After a scoreless first half, Chaffin exploded for 19 second half points to lead the Eagles. Leistikow added his second collegiate double double, scoring 18 points while grabbing 16 rebounds, along with three blocks, and two steals. Timothy O'Tool sparked the Eagles in the first half, scoring 12 of his 15 in the first half. O'Tool missed earning his own double double by one rebound, recording nine on the night. Talton added 10 points, four assists, and two steals, while Young, who scored eight of his 10 in the second half during the crucial final 10 minutes, led the Eagles with three steals while also missing a double double with nine rebounds of his own. Jordan Marshall handed out five assists to lead the Eagles in that category.

The Eagles out rebounded Barclay 53-29, held the Bears to 39% from the floor and 24% from behind the arc, and shot 20 free throws to the Bears 16. 

The young team has enjoyed the challenging schedule so far, and will continue to battle through another tough slate of games this coming week. On Tuesday the Eagles will travel to Oskaloosa, IA, to take on NAIA II national runner up William Penn University in an exhibition contest. The Eagles will then host their annual Faith Classic Tournament on Friday, November 22. On the men's side, Manhattan Christian will face Iowa Wesleyan at 4 PM, while the Eagles with take on strong NCCAA II Midwest Region opponent Maranatha Baptist Bible College at 8 PM. On Saturday, Manhattan will face Maranatha at 2 PM, while Faith will take on Iowa Wesleyan at 6 PM.