Men Move to 2-0 in Region
Less than 24 hours after securing their first region win of the season, the Eagle men grabbed their second, defeating Trinity Bible College 87-80 in Minneapolis, MN Saturday afternoon. Faith is now 5-3 on the year with the win and are tied at the top of the region with North Central University and Crossroads College.
Both teams had trouble scoring in the first half, resulting in a back and forth half with neither able to gain a foot hold. After 20 minutes the game stood tied at 35 apiece with 20 to play. Out of the break, Trinity quickly put together a 12-4 lead to gain the largest lead of the game by either team at 47-39. Faith called timeout to re-group and began to slowly chip away at the Lion's lead. Cody Chaffin got the Eagles headed in the right direction when he was fouled on a three point attempt and made all three free throws. However, Trinity responded with their own traditional three point play to move back up by eight. After a couple traded baskets, Chaffin got hot, scoring 11 points in two minutes, the final a three point shot that put Faith back in the lead by one with 12 to play.
The game then remained tight for the next eight minutes. With Faith trailing by one, Joey Young hit a huge three to give Faith a two point lead with four minutes to go. Trinity coverted on their end to tie it back up, but next time down the court it was Jason Scheps converting for Faith to go back up by two. The Eagles then were able to get a stop, leading by two with under two minutes to play. Faith worked some clock before Jon Luke Talton was able to get to the basket to push the Eagle lead to four with under a minute and a half to play. Joey Young stepped up again, earning a charge and the Eagles had the ball back. Unfortunately a turnover on their inbounds kept Trinity in it just a bit longer as they converted to pull back within two. Trinity then fouled and the Eagles were able to begin icing the game at the line as the Eagles made five of six free throws over the final 30 seconds while holding Trinity scoreless to earn the 87-80 victory.
"This was a great team win tonight. Our scorers all contributed while we had some big "step up" moments from our bench players. Scheps and Young gave us great minutes off the bench, and it was nice to see Chaffin, Leistikow, and Talton all able to have great games as well," noted coach Fincham.
One night after turning the ball over 24 times, Faith only turned it over 10 times. The Eagles were able to out rebound Trinity 47-40 including 15 offensive rebounds and hold the Lions to 36% from the floor.
Faith will finish out their first semester of play with a road trip south. The Eagles will play at Champion Christian College in Hot Springs, AR, on Dec. 15 at 5pm. They'll then be off for a day before matching up with nationally ranked Dallas Christian College in Dallas, TX on Dec. 17 at 8pm. The Eagles final game of the trip will be at NAIA Oklahoma Wesleyan College in Bartlesville, OK on Dec. 19 at 5pm.