Eagles Win First Round Game in Dallas Christmas Tournament

DALLAS, Texas—The Faith Eagles men's basketball team left a lump of coal in the stockings of the host school for the Dallas Christian College Christmas Tournament.

The Eagles (5-4) continued their hot shooting from last Friday, connecting on 52.5 percent of their shots in an 84-73 victory over Dallas Christian College (1-9), and made 10 three-pointers in 22 attempts.

Five players finished in double figures for Faith, paced by Kalab Sidlinger, who scored 22 points and was 4-of-10 from three-point range. Jayce Goergen scored 19, Tanner Van Beek added 15, Nathan Keck had 12, and Noah Boyer had the best game of his Faith career with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting.

There were three ties and 12 lead changes in a tightly-contested game for most of 40 minutes. The Eagles came out of the gates strong, building its largest lead early with a 25-11 score with 13 minutes remaining in the first half. A cold spell and a series of turnovers allowed Dallas Christian to get back in the game as the Eagles scored just three points in an eight-minute span. Faith saw its 14-point lead evaporate into a five-point deficit before it righted the ship to take a two-point lead into the locker room.

Faith outscored Dallas Christian 45-36 in the second half to pull away for the 11-point win. With the victory, the Eagles face NAIA Southwestern College (9-5) in the championship game on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.