Tough Weekend for Faith Eagles Men's Basketball

Eagles Fall to Calvary Warriors on the Road

By Loretta Gamboe, Staff Writer

BELTON, Missouri—In their first road game of the semester, the Eagles fell to the Calvary University Warriors in a fast-paced battle with a deafening crowd.  Ultimately, the Warriors' lights-out shooting and the Eagles' turnovers resulted in an 86-71 loss for the Eagles. 

The Eagles got into an early hole as the Warriors started the game with a 10-0 run. A 9-0 run by Faith brought the score to 19-16 with twelve minutes left in the half. At halftime the Eagles trailed by four, 41-37. 

In the second half, Faith struggled to maintain possession of the ball and the Warriors slowly built up their lead as the game progressed.  A 9-0 run by the Warriors midway through the second half stretched the lead to 67-50 and effectively put the game out of reach.  

Chase Clark tied his season-high for scoring with 18 points and he also grabbed 9 rebounds for the Eagles.  Tanner Van Beek and Sam Pedersen also scored in double digits, contributing 14 and 12 points respectively. 

Ozark Shoots Past Faith

By Loretta Gamboe, Staff Writer

JOPLIN, Missouri—Playing in their second road game of the weekend, the Eagles just couldn't keep up with the incredible shooting of the Ozark Ambassadors on Saturday afternoon, resulting in their second consecutive loss.  The Eagles shot just 31.4% from the field, connecting on 22 of 70 shots, while the Ambassadors shot an astonishing 57.7%, connecting on 41 of 71 shots, including 13 of 20 shots from beyond the arc. 

Things didn't initially look bleak for the Eagles, who entered the game with a 1-4 conference record.  After the first five minutes of the game, the Eagles were only down 11-9.  The Ambassadors' offense took off, steadily increasing their score while holding the Eagles' offense to just nine made baskets in the half, resulting in a 53-21 halftime score. 

Turnovers continued to be a problem for the Eagles in the second half, as they struggled to maintain possession of the ball, resulting in numerous fast breaks for the Ambassadors. Ozark connected on 22 of 34 shots in the second half, including 4 of 8 three-pointers.  The final score was 103-52. 

Chase Clark led the Eagles in scoring with 14 points and 9 rebounds.  Seth Brown also scored in double digits, contributing a career-high 10 points and 5 rebounds.  Christian Brown and Micah Stinson had 8 points each. 

The Eagles will return to action with an exhibition game on Tuesday, January 22, at Midland University.  They will resume their regular season games with a home matchup against Association Free Lutheran Bible School on Friday, January 25, at 8:30 p.m.