Eagles Advance To National Tournament After Another Postseason Rally

ELLENDALE, North Dakota—Your Faith Eagles are headed to the NCCAA Division II National Tournament after another thrilling, come from behind victory in the regional final with a 74-64 win over Trinity Bible College.

Trinity, the host school for the region, was riding a wave of late-season success with two consecutive upsets over Central Christian College and Calvary to reach the final game. Playing on their home court, the upset-minded Lions gave the Eagles all they could handle for 39 minutes before Faith pulled away in the last 60 seconds.

It was a close game from start to finish with five ties and 12 lead changes. The Eagles built a five-point lead with 8:36 to go in the first half before Trinity ended the half on a 17-7 run to take a 40-35 lead into the locker room.

Trinity built a nine-point lead (its largest lead of the game) with 12:12 to play, but true to form this entire postseason, the Eagles rallied to regain the lead at 62-61 with 5:13 remaining. Trinity tied the game on the ensuing possession with a made free-throw, but Nathan Keck answered with two free-throws of his own on the following play, and the Eagles never trailed the remainder of the game.

Keck led all scorers with 29 points and chipped in a game-high 15 rebounds for good measure. The Eagles shot just 36.3 percent from the floor (6-of-24 from three), but crushed Trinity on the glass, outrebounding them 50-30, with 20 offensive rebounds.

Faith heads to the national tournament in Joplin, Missouri, where they will play their first-round game on Thursday, March 12. Time and opponent to be determined. The Eagles will attempt to win the school's first-ever national championship on the same court it won the conference title one week ago.