Eagles Open Semester with Close Victory

The Eagle men opened their second semester of play with a tight victory over Ozark Christian College. The win puts the Eagles at 6-4 on the year.

The game was tight for the first four minutes, with the visitor holding a slim 10-9 lead. Faith took the lead with a 10-0 run, then held the lead, eventually building it to 14 with just under 11 minutes to play in the half, 32-18. However, the Eagles would go just 1/14 over the final 10 minutes of the half, with Ozark taking advantage to close out the half with a 24-6 run to take a four point 42-38 lead into the break. 

Ozark ran the lead up to as many as eight during the first four minutes of the second half, but the Eagles began chipping away at that margin, finally pulling ahead 61-60 with eight minutes left in the game. Faith built the lead to five at 65-60, but an Ozark run of 6-0 off of two Eagles turnovers found the Eagles trailing by one with six to play. The game then went down to the wire, with Josh Bray drawing a fould with the Eagles trailing by two with just under a minute to play. Bray made the first but missed the second and the Eagles fouled Ozark. The visitors gave the Eagles a chance as they missed the front end of a one and one, and Jon Luke Talton was able to draw a foul and make the first of two free throws to tie the game up. Talton missed the second, but a hustle play by Ryan Kupferschmid resulted in an Ozark foul and Kupferschmid sank both free throws to give the Eagles a two point lead with 22 seconds to play. Ozark missed their ensuing shot, and Talton was fouled again, with a little over two seconds to play. Talton missed the first but made the second, giving Faith a 77-74 lead. Ozark executed a well run full court play that resulted in a contested three in the corner that just rimmed out and the Eagles escaped with the victory.

Nine of the ten Eagle men who played scored in the game, as a well rounded team effort led to the victory. Josh Bray scored 16 points, while Cody Chaffin added 15. Aaron Leistikow also scored 15 while grabbing 10 rebounds to record a double double. Jon Luke Talton handed out seven assists and grabbed two steals on the night.

Faith returns to action on Friday night when they will host Oak Hills Christian College.