Leistikow's Triple Double, Chaffin's 35 Leads Eagles to OT Win

Freshman Aaron Leistikow recorded his first career triple double, and freshman Cody Chaffin added 35 points in an exciting overtime win for the Eagle men against visiting Crossroads College this past Tuesday nigh. Faith stretched their win streak to four with the victory, improving to 9-6 on the season.

Faith jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead two minutes in, but Crossroads responded with their own 9-3 run to take a one point lead. The game stayed tight for the next few minutes, before the Eagles put together an 8-0 run to lead by five. Crossroads responded with another run, and again the game went back and forth. At the six minute mark with the score tied at 32 apiece, Crossroads took advantage of four consecutive turnovers by the Eagles to put together an 11-0 run. Faith went to the bench for a spark, and the bench responded with a run to pull the Eagles back within six. Crossroads scored on their next possession, then took advantage of another Faith turnover, knocking down a three to go back up by 11. Faith was able to hit a three of their own before time expired to pull back within eight, 42-50, at the break.

After a rough first half defensively, the Eagles came out determined to correct that in the second. Faith held Crossroads scoreless for the first three and a half minutes of the second half, but struggled offensively, only able to score one field goal during that time.  Faith remained resilient, slowly chipping away at the Crossroads lead to eventually tie the game up at 66 apiece with 10 minutes left in the game. That tie came amidst a 13-0 run by the Eagles that gave them a nine point lead with seven minutes left in the game. A defensive switch by Crossroads cause Faith to become passive offensively, and Crossroads took advantage, forcing six Faith turnovers in the span of four minutes to erase the Eagles lead with a 16-2 run. The run gave Crossroads a five point lead with just under three minutes left in the game. Faith responded with defensive stops that they turned in to offensive scores, rallying together for a 6-0 run to take a one point lead with under a minute left. Crossroad's AJ Kuhn, who went 5/6 from behind the arc, was left open for a shot, which he knocked down to give Crossroads a two point lead. On the Eagle's ensuing possession, Cody Chaffing found Jon Luke Talton at the basket for a layup to tie the game up with 12 seconds to play. The Eagles came out in a man to man defense, nearly forcing a turnover on the inbounds. The Eagles just missed the steal, but the result put the Eagles out of position defensively, forcing them to scramble. Crossroad's missed the initial attempt, but Faith was unable to corral the rebound, and Crossroad's Andy Carson had a put back attempt, which just missed, allowing the Eagle's to escape to overtime.

Faith opened the overtime period by winning the tip and scoring an immediate layup, a basket which led to an 8-1 run for the Eagles to start the OT period. Crossroads would pull within three with a minute and a half to play, but the Eagles put the game away with a 7-2 run to close out the game with a 101-93 OT win.

Aaron Leistikow's triple double included 18 points, 14 assists, and 10 rebounds, while he came within four steals of a quadruple double with six. Chaffin scored 35. Timothy O'Tool added 19 of his own, while John Acree provided a spark off the bench with 10 points. 

Faith returns to action on Friday, when they will host Emmaus Bible College at 8 PM. The game is part of the Eagle's annual Midwest Invitational Shooutout high school basketball tournament. Friday's game is Local Church Night as well, with anyone attending who brings a church bulletin able to get in for $1 ($3 for a family).