Eagles Win Region Opener

In what has been a theme for the past few games, the Eagle men overcame sloppy play and offensive incosistency to earn another win, this time against regional opponent Providence University College. Faith moves to 1-0 in the North Central region with the win and 4-3 overall. The Eagles won by a final of 82-72.

Faith started the game exceptionally well as they held Providence scoreless for the first six minutes of the game. During that time the Eagles built a 14-0 lead and seemed to have the game in hand. However, sloppy play over the final 14 minutes of the second half would allow Providence right back in the game, as the Eagles would commit 14 turnovers during the next 14 minutes which Providence converted into 17 of their 36 first half points. Faith and Providence went into the break tied at 36 a piece. 

With ten minutes remaining in the game, neither team had gained an advantage as the score stood at 57 each. While turnovers weren't near the issue in the second half for the Eagles, defense was, as the Eagles consistently got beaten off the drive for easy layups resulting in Providence holding a one point 63-62 lead with seven minutes remaining. Some defensive adjustments by the Eagles finally created a break through for the Eagles, as they were able to put together a 7-0 run, holding Providence scoreless on four straight trips to take a six point lead. Faith maintained that lead through free throws and timely buckets, capped off by a Joey Young three point shot with just under two minutes to play to seal the game for Faith. Faith pushed the lead to 14 from the free thrown line before Providence hit a three and a free throw in the waning seconds of the game for a final 82-72 decision.

"We again were fortunate to come out on top. Hopefully we can start to take the number of turnovers seriously and make an effort to improve in that area. Obviously we're happy with the victory, but I hope we're just as encouraged by how much room for improvement we still have," noted coach Fincham. "I give Providence a lot of credit, Coach Gryba had them ready to play, and for much of the game, they were the more physical and aggressive. We can learn a lot from how they played today."

The Eagles countered Providence's better shooting percentage and more shot attempts by getting to the line 34 times and hitting 29 of those attempts. Faith was also able to force Providence into 11 second half turnovers and turned those into 26 total points. Those two areas, combined with a 13-7 advantage in second chance points was the difference in the game for Faith. The Eagles outrebounded Providence 43-19 on the night.

The Eagles jump right back into region play on Saturday, when they will face Trinity Bible College at 1pm. The game will be played at North Central University in downtown Minneapolis.