One and Done: Cold Shooting Night Ends Tournament Run Early for Eagles

ANKENY, Iowa—Fans of the Faith Eagles men's and women's basketball teams were settling in for what they hoped would be a long weekend of basketball as Faith hosts the NCCAA Division II North Regionals this week. Instead, a cold shooting night for the men and a solid performance from the Emmaus starters (led by Tyrus Buckner's 26 points and 21 rebounds) ended Faith's shot at winning the region on their home court after just one game. Faith fell by the score of 85-73.

Faith entered the region as the number two seed, but records and seeds haven't mattered in the men's bracket as only one of the top four seeds advanced to the semifinals in the eight team region. The two, three, and four seeds were all knocked out in Thursday's opening round.

The game with Emmaus marked the third time the two schools have faced each other this season, with Faith winning the other two by scores of 90-76 and 74-73. Emmaus entered the tournament with just two wins on the season against 20 losses, but their record was not a good indicator of just how much they have improved over the second half of the season with six of their last seven losses coming by six points or less.

Faith held its own in the first half and it looked like the game was going to go to the wire, with large, energetic crowds from both schools cheering their teams on. There were four ties and 11 lead changes in the first 20 minutes of action. After Faith jumped to an early 6-1 lead, Emmaus charged back to take its largest lead of the half with 6:27 to play with an 11-point lead. Just when it looked like the game was getting away from Faith, Coach Fincham's squad battled back to take a two-point lead into the locker room, 38-36, ending the half on a 22-9 run.

The momentum for the Eagles didn't carry over into the second half for long. At least not long enough. After a 47-47 tie at the 14:20 mark, Emmaus went on a 9-0 run and Faith was never able to recover. Emmaus shot 53.3% in the second half (4-8 from three), while Faith went ice cold, shooting just 36% (5-19 from three).

Jayce Goergen had a great night for Faith, leading the team in scoring (23) and rebounding (7), while connecting on four of his eight three-point tries. Goergen was honored as a First Team All-Region performer prior to the game. Kalab Sidlinger was named Third Team All-Region, with Jared Pearson and Jason Conable earning Honorable Mention All-Region honors.

With the loss, the Eagles' season comes to an end with a record of 14-13.