Eagles lose heartbreaker at Maranatha
WATERTOWN, Wisconsin—The Faith Eagles men's basketball team had the chance to beat Maranatha on the road with a last-second shot on Saturday, but it wouldn't fall, as the Eagles lost by one point, 65-64. With the loss, Faith fell below .500 for the first time this season with a record of 3-4.
The game was close from start to finish, with nine ties and eight lead changes. Both teams struggled to shoot the ball, with Faith converting just 32 percent of its field goals (5-of-22 from three).
Maranatha held its largest lead of the game early in the first half with a 13-5 lead. The Eagles battled back to tie the game at 24 with 5:51 remaining but were never able to gain the lead in the first 20 minutes of action. Tanner Van Beek and Kalab Sidlinger led the way for Faith in the first half with 11 points and 7 points respectively. Maranatha did a great job of defending Faith's leading scorer, Nathan Keck, holding him scoreless in the first half.
Faith made its charge in the second half, securing its largest lead of the game at 53-50 with just over eight minutes to play. A Jayce Goergen three-pointer with 3:14 remaining broke a tie game and matched the largest lead of the game for Faith, but Maranatha outscored the Eagles 8-4 down the stretch to secure the one-point lead. Despite some key missed free throws by Maranatha in the final 30 seconds, the Eagles were unable to grab the lead.
Faith was led by Tanner Van Beek with 15 points. The Eagles return home to Ankeny for a Friday night game against Holy Family College at 7:30 p.m.