Eagles Score Comeback Win
In a game in which the Eagle men could not get the lid off the bucket for most of the game, the free throw line proved crucial to an Eagles win. John Acree led the Eagles to the win, going 14//15 from the free throw line en route to his game high 22 points and a 73-64 win. Faith moves to 9-4 on the year with the win.
Faith started slowly offensively, as Emmaus built an 11 point lead early in the first half. Faith was able to then begin to earn some stops, closing out the half with a 24-16 run to pull within three at 33-30 going into the break. Emmaus opened the second half with a 10-5 run to push the lead back to eight with 15 and a half to play. However, just as in their first three games, the Eagles would own the last 15 minutes of the game. Faith used a 17-9 run over the next six minutes to pull even at 52 apiece. Emmaus pushed back with their own 5-0 run, but Faith just kept coming.
Aaron Leistikow knocked down two free throws to pull the Eagles within two, then Ryan Kupferschmid knocked down back to back threes, followed by an Acree bucket to give the Eagles their own five point lead. Faith would not trail again as Kupferschmid would hit one more three and add a free throw and Acree would punish the host down low, getting to the free throw line six times and not missing one free throw over the stretch run to give the Eagles the nine point victory. "We've really been focusing on finishing games. We've made some changes to give ourselves better opportunities in the last 15 minutes of games, and tonight was another opportunity for us to grow in that area. Tonight was a really good team win on a night when we didn't shoot the ball well," noted coach Fincham.
Despite a dismal overall shooting performance, the Eagles went 8/15 over the final 15 minutes of the game, while holding Emmaus to 38% over the same stretch. Faith also went 16/17 from the free throw line to close out the game. Faith ended the night shooting just 35% from the floor, but was able to hold Emmaus to 39%. The win for the Eagles came at the free throw line, where Faith finished 29/35 to the hosts 6/11 performance.
In addition to Acree's 22, Kupferschmid finished with 13 points and Aaron Leistikow also added 13. Josh Bray led the Eagles with 7 rebounds, while Jon Luke Talton and Leistikow each had 3 assists. Acree led the team in steals with 3.
Faith returns to action on Tuesday, January 20, when they will host Union College at home in a 7:00 PM contest.