Eagles Cap Dramatic Weekend With 21-Point Comeback

By Andrew Gogerty

ANKENY, Iowa--They did it again. No matter how many points this Faith Eagles men's basketball team falls behind, they somehow find a way to come back and win. In a rematch of last season's regional championship, the Faith Eagles closed out their opening weekend in dramatic fashion, rallying from a 21-point second half deficit to come away with another thrilling 91-89 win.

This mantra of rallying from unthinkable deficits began during the postseason last year. Faith has now rallied from second half deficits of nine points or more in four of its last five games dating back to last season:

• Down 21 with 19:47 left in the second half against Trinity Bible College (11-21-20)
• Down 9 with 12 minutes left in the second half against Trinity Bible College in the regional championship
• Down 21 in the second half against Maranatha Baptist University in the regional semifinal
• Down 16 in the second half against Calvary in the conference championship

The Eagles kept things close the first five minutes of the game, trailing by just three points with 15:06 remaining in the first half. Faith went cold for nearly five minutes as Trinity stretched its lead to 11 before Jayce Goergen ended the scoring drought with a three pointer. The Eagles pulled within one with 7:47 remaining, but Trinity utilized a 20-6 run in the final five minutes to put Faith in a serious 18-point hole at halftime.

Elvis Perez drilled a three pointer right out of the gate in the second half, and a 21-point deficit looked (once again) insurmountable for the Eagles. But Faith did what they've done since last postseason: they buckled down defensively and slowly chipped away by attacking the basket and getting to every loose ball. After the Eagles trimmed the lead to 13 points with 15:52 remaining, Noah Boyer came up with a big steal, which led to a Kalab Sidlinger bucket to pull the Eagles within 11. 

Faith continued to chip away with solid contributions from every player, but it was the breakout of freshman Jared Pearson who fueled Faith's comeback in the second half. Pearson's jumper with 6:19 remaining gave Faith its first lead of the game, and the Eagles never trailed again, although the game stayed within one or two points most of the rest of the way. Jayce Goergen made some clutch free throws down the stretch for the Eagles to preserve the victory.

Faith shot just 44% for the game (5 of 22 from three point distance), but vastly outhustled the Lions, outrebounding them 51-24. Faith had 25 second-chance points, to Trinity's zero. 

Jared Pearson paced the Eagles with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Jayce Goergen added 20 points, and was followed by Kalab Sidlinger with 19, Noah Boyer with 12 points and 17 rebounds, Carson Odle with 11 points, Tyler Carson with four, and Jason Conable with three.

The Eagles finished the opening weekend with a 2-0 record and will get a week off for Thanksgiving. Faith returns to action with a scrimmage on December 1, followed by a big road matchup with Maranatha on Friday, December 4.