Best of the Weekend: A Senior Night Win

ANKENY, Iowa—Friday night was Senior Night for the Faith men's basketball team, and the boys brought home a thrilling 97-95 win for senior Jason Conable in front of one of the largest crowds of the season against Central Christian College of the Bible.

Conable was honored as the lone senior on this year's team before the men's game, along with Alicia Smith for the women's team. After presenting roses to his parents and wife, Jason put together one of his finest games of the year, scoring 10 points on five of ten shooting, and grabbing nine rebounds.

The game was close most of the way, with seven ties and 12 lead changes. Central Christian's largest lead was nine points with 12:44 left in the first half. The Eagles outscored CCCB 35-22 in the final 12 minutes to take a 49-45 lead into halftime.

Faith's largest lead of the game came with 12:23 to play in the second half when they took a 12-point lead on a Jared Pearson jumper. Pearson scored 23 points off the bench with a large contingency of his relatives in attendance. He was 10 of 12 from the floor (1 of 1 from three-point distance).

The Eagles' lead evaporated with 7:45 to play and the rest of the game was a back-and-forth affair. The game was tied at 91 with 1:34 remaining when Jayce Goergen made a steal and was sent to the free throw line where he made both of his attempts to give Faith a two-point lead, which they never relinquished.

Kalab Sidlinger led Faith in scoring with a game-high 29 points. Goergen added 19, and Noah Boyer's 14 points and 18 rebounds were also critical in the win that put Faith back over the .500 mark at 11-10.

On Saturday, the Eagles had a short turnaround, with a road game in Kansas City, Missouri, against Kansas Christian, ranked number 10 in the NCCAA Division II polls. Faith struggled in this one, falling by the score of 99-66.

The Eagles (11-11) will try and end their regular season with a winning record as they take on Spurgeon College at 5:00 p.m. in Ankeny. Conference tournament play begins Thursday in Dubuque, Iowa.