Ugly First Half Buries Eagles in First Round of Faith Classic
ANKENY, Iowa— The first half was as ugly as it gets.
In a 90-54 loss to Ozark Christian Friday night, the Eagles' first half was nightmarish. Three made baskets on 3-26 shooting (11%). 16 turnovers. It took the Eagles nearly 14 minutes to make their first basket. And, on the defensive end, they allowed nine three-pointers and 52 points.
After scoring 96 points on better-than 50% shooting the night before, the Eagles started Friday night's game against Ozark Christian just the opposite, missing their first 18 attempts from the field. Ozark Christian, on the other hand, couldn't miss, running Faith out of its own gym in the first 10 minutes of the game with a score of 25-4, with all four of Faith's points coming off of free throws.
The Eagles' first basket came with 6:18 to go in the half, the second came with 3:43 remaining, and the last one came 40 seconds before halftime. Faith trailed 52-15 at the break.
The second half was a marked improvement, as the Eagles actually outscored and outshot Ozark Christian, 39-38, on 44.4% shooting. Tanner Van Beek led the Eagles with 20 points. Sam Pedersen was the only other Faith player in double figures with 17. Faith committed 25 turnovers and was outrebounded, 45-34. It was the first loss of the season for the Eagles, who fell to 2-1 on the year.
The Eagles play their second game of the Faith Classic on Saturday evening at 6:00 p.m. against Randall University (1-5). Randall has won the last three consecutive national championships for NCCAA Division II men's basketball.