Eagles Defeat #2 Barclay!

By Andrew Gogerty

ANKENY, Iowa—The Faith Eagles men's basketball team played its best game of the season Friday night, knocking off the second-ranked team in the nation in NCCAA Division II, and proving to themselves they can beat anyone if they play the kind of team basketball that earned them the 97-82 upset win.

The Eagles put on a passing clinic, humming the ball around the court in a manner that would make Patrick Mahomes blush. Point guard Jayce Goergen, just a sophomore, has become the floor general that coaches dream of, slicing and dicing up teams with both his passing and scoring abilities, and providing the calm, steady leadership that is vital as the quarterback of the team. Goergen led the Eagles with 24 points and six assists, and was 8 of 11 from the free throw line, hitting many of those in the final minutes as Faith iced the game away.

The Eagles never led in the first half, but kept Barclay within striking distance, trailing by just three at halftime. Faith's first lead came with 18:27 remaining in the second half, which then saw TWENTY ONE(!) ties and lead changes the rest of the way. Key baskets by Jason Conable and Jayce Goergen in the final three minutes held off Barclay runs, and then Goergen and company finished off the Bears at the free throw line, connecting on 16 of their final 18 tries from the charity stripe in the final two minutes and thirty seconds.

Despite a poor shooting performance from three point distance (4 of 23; 17.4%), the Eagles did a magnificent job of finding the open player, especially in the second half, recording 19 assists on 37 made baskets for the game. They also outhustled the Bears, grabbing 45 rebounds to Barclay's 31. Five players scored 10 points or more for Faith: Goergen (24); Pearson (20); Brown (14); Sidlinger (14); Conable (11).

The emergence of 6'4 sophomore forward Christian Brown has been a key component to the Eagles' play recently, and was a critical part of their win over Barclay. Brown has become a much-needed force in the post for Faith—an ingredient that has been missing after the graduation of Tanner Van Beek and Chase Clark from last season's NCCAA Tournament team. Brown has now recorded career-highs in scoring each of his last two games, scoring 13 on Thursday night and 14 in Friday night's win.

Speaking of post play, freshman Jared Pearson has been one of the best surprises on the team for Coach Fincham this season. The 6'4 forward from Aberdeen, South Dakota, has utilized his athleticism and hard work ethic to become the team's third leading scorer (15.6 points per game) and third leading rebounder (5.9 per game), giving fits to defenders who are sometimes bigger, but not as quick, and ones who are smaller and can't defend his ability to post up. This can also be referred to as a "matchup nightmare," a label which Pearson would be proud to share with one of his childhood heroes, Georges Niang, legendary player for the Iowa State Cyclones from 2012-2016, and now a member of the Utah Jazz in the NBA.

Another promising development is the spring arrival of sophomore guard Alex Owens, who sat out the fall semester, but has shown flashes of greatness in his seven games since January, and looks to be a vital component of Faith's success down the stretch run of the season. Owens provides athleticism and depth at the guard spot and has proven to be another outside scoring threat for the Eagles, hitting several clutch baskets since his arrival. He's one of the players Coach Fincham was most excited about coming into the season, noting the effort he had put in last summer.

With the win, the Eagles evened their record at 7-7, and will look for revenge and consecutive wins against teams ranked in the top five as they host #4 Manhattan Christian at 4 p.m. today. The Eagles suffered one of their worst losses of the season to the Thunder just two days ago, 92-66. Game time is 4 p.m. in Ankeny.