Eagle Men Earn Conference Championship
For the first time since the 1976-1977 basketball season, the Eagle men are the Midwest Christian College Conference regular season champions. Faith finished out the season in impressive style, winning a school record 12 games in a row and finishing the conference portion of the schedule with a 7-1 record. The 12 game win streak was one better than the '76-'77 (and '10-11') team's 11 game streak. The men stand at 18-5 overall, which is within three wins of tying both the '76-'77 and '10-'11 season records of 21 wins.
After a first semester in which the Eagles started hot but faltered towards the end of the semester, the Eagle men have used a fast paced, team oriented style of play during the second semester which led to the win streak and season championship. During the second semester of play, the Eagles have held their opponents to an average of 66 points per game, while maintaining their first semester pace of just over 84 ppg. Opponents have shot just under 40% during the second semester when facing the Eagles, while Faith has increased their own fg% by 2 to just under 47%. The Eagles have maintained their 37% clip from behind the arc, while holding opponents to just under 32%.
After a first semester in which the Eagles only outrebounded their opponents by 1 rpg., the Eagles have controlled the glass in the second half, grabbing 11 more rpg. than their opponents. The story is the same in the steals category, with Faith averaging 11 spg. during the second semester, good for 3 more than their opponents, after only averaging 8 while allowing 7 during the first semester of play. The Eagles have been more aggressive offensively as well. After shooting one less free throw per game than their opponents during the first semester, the Eagles have responded by getting to the line five more times per game than their opponents during the second semester.
After a first semester in which only eight players saw more than six minutes a game, the Eagles got everyone involved during the second semester. All 12 men averaged 9.5 minutes or more, with 11 averaging at least 13 minutes per game.
The Eagles head into the conference tournament with a first round game against St. Louis Christian. The Eagles were able to defeat St. Louis twice during the season. Should the Eagles advance to the semi-finals, they will face either #4 seeded Manhattan Christian College or #5 Central Christian College of the Bible. The Eagles most recently faced CCCB, where the Saints gave the Eagles a scare in Moberly. Faith survived a blistering hot night from behind the arc by the Saints for the win. Faith saw Manhattan very early in the year, recording a come from behind two point win at home to defeat the Thunder. Both teams will provide a significant challenge in a semifinal matchup. On the other side of the bracket stands Ozark Chrisitian, the only team to beat the Eagles in conference play this year, Calvary Bible College, Emmaus Bible College, and host Barclay College. The Eagles were able to defeat Calvary and Emmaus twice, and held off Barclay at home early in the season.
The Eagle's first game of the tournament with St. Louis will be at 2pm on Thursday.
