Men's Basketball Season Preview
The Eagle men will tip off their season on Tuesday, November 11, 2014, at 7:00 PM on the road at Union College (Lincoln, NE). Faith is looking forward to buidling off last year's momentum, as they return three starters and the bulk of their scoring from a year ago. Faith finished last year with a 17-12 record, including a runner up finish in both the regular season and tournament of the Midwest Christian College Conference.
Headlining the returning class for the Eagles are Co-MVP's Cody Chaffin and Aaron Leistikow. Both were NCCAA All Region and MCCC All Conference selections a year ago. Chaffin led the Eagles in scoring, averaging 19.2 per game while shooting 41% from three, and Leistikow nearly averaged a double double, scoring 17.8 per game and grabbing 9.8 rpg. Starting wing Jon Luke Talton also returns for the Eagles. Talton is healthy after spending his entire freshmen season battling back injuries. Jon Luke averaged 11.4 ppg and handed out three assists per game. Senior captains Eric Young and Jon Rocha, along with sophomore post John Acree round out the returnees for the Eagles. Acree came on strong for the Eagles at the end of the season, leading the team in scoring in their final three games. He is recovering from a hand injury suffered during pre-season, but should be ready to make an impact for the Eagles when he gets healthy. Young and Rocha will provide mature leadership on and off the court for a young squad that includes six freshmen.
Newcomers Ryan Kupferschmid, Josh Bray, Willie Felderman, Micah VanNausdle, Joey Young, and Alec Hraba will look for opportunities to contribute. Bray, Kupferschmid, VanNausdle and Young will provide depth at the wing for the Eagles while Felderman and Hraba will look to contribute in the post.
Although the Eagles finished the '13-14 campaign with a 17-12 record, they are looking to take the next step and earn some quality wins this year. Their first semester schedule provides several such opportunities, with home games against perpetual conference leaders Barclay College and Manhattan Christian College. The following weekend, the Eagles host their annual Faith Classic Tournament. Faith will get a shot at adding two more solid wins to their resume' with games against NAIA Lincoln Christian and NCCAA III Iowa Wesleyan. Finishing out their first semester of games will be games with regional significance. The Eagles will face off against Providence Unviersity College and Trinity Bible College in early December in Minneapolis, then travel back the following weekend to take on defending regional champion North Central University. Those two weekends will determine seeding for the regional tournament in February.
The second semester includes the bulk of conference play for the Eagles. Should the Eagles earn wins against Manhattan and Barclay in early November, they will be poised to make a run at a regular season conference title with wins in January and February in conference play. The Eagles will start post-season play in Haviland, KS, at the annual MCCC tournament. Following that weekend, Faith will travel to Ellendale, ND, searching for their first NCCAA North Central regional tournament championship. National tournament play will follow for the Eagles, with a trip to the ACCA National Tournament likely, followed by a trip to the NCCAA National Tournament should the Eagles win the region.
You can follow all the action for the Eagles this season live on our website with livestats and video available for most games.