Eagles Advance to Conference Semifinals with Win over Ozark

JOPLIN, Missouri—The Faith Eagles men's basketball team defeated Ozark Christian College, 82-67, in the opening round of the MCCC Tournament Thursday evening to advance to the semifinal round on Friday night.

The Eagles used a strong second half to pull away from Ozark after a tie game at halftime. Faith mounted a 20-4 run over the first seven minutes of the second half to build a comfortable 16-point lead. Faith shot a blazing 73.9 percent from the floor in the second half, including 8-of-12 from three-point distance.

Kalab Sidlinger had the hot hand for the Eagles, connecting on 5-of-8 three-pointers as part of his game-high 24 points. Faith outrebounded Ozark Christian 44-23. The largest lead of the game for the Eagles was 20 points, while their largest deficit was 11 with 10:54 left in the first half.

Faith plays the number one seed, Manhattan Christian, at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night for the right to advance to the conference championship. The Eagles fell to Manhattan last weekend 81-70.