Eagles End Semester with Tough Loss

Faith played their last regular season game of the semester Saturday in Watertown, WI against Maranatha Baptist University. Although the Eagles stayed within striking distance in the beginning, sloppy second half play and poor shooting put the Sabercats out of reach. North Region opponent Maranatha defeated Faith 88-72, handing the Eagles their second loss of the season.

Maranatha came out swinging right from the tip, hitting back-to-back threes and a layup. The Eagles seemed unfazed by the early deficit and responded with an 18-0 run, silencing the Sabercats' large home crowd; but Faith couldn't keep their momentum going. Maranatha answered with a 19-5 run of their own, reclaiming the lead, 27-25. At the end of the first half, Maranatha held a slight advantage over the Eagles, leading 34-30.

Coming out of halftime, Faith tried their best to fight back, and they never let Maranatha extend their lead to more than nine. The game of runs would continue though, as the Sabercats went on an impressive 20-5 run. During that five minute run, the Eagles committed six fouls and shot just 2-8 from the field. The surge of offense that extended Maranatha's lead to 65-45, appeared to put the Eagles away. Faith would go on to lose 72-88 and head into the Christmas break ending on a disappointing loss.

Jon Luke Talton led all scorers with 22 points and also racked up 5 blocks. Ryan Kupferschmid brought in 16 points and 6 rebounds before fouling out of the game. Josh Bray ended with 11 points and 8 rebounds, and Mark Young contributed 7 rebounds to the game as well.

The Eagles will resume play at home on Friday, January 13, 2017, hosting a conference game against Barclay College.