Eagles Shoot Down Pilots for Road Win

DUBUQUE, Iowa—Chris Barnette made his season debut for the Faith Eagles and scored a game-high 26 points as the Eagles took down the Providence University College Pilots, 83-75, in Dubuque.

Barnette missed the first four games of the season due to an injury, but came off the bench to play 27 minutes in his debut, connecting on 11-of-22 shot attempts, including 3-of-7 from three-point distance. He sparked the Eagles on defense as well with four steals to go along with seven rebounds and seven assists.

The Eagles trailed by as many as 16 with six minutes remaining in the first half after Providence mounted a 20-7 run. Faith cut the lead to seven by halftime to give themselves hope for a second half comeback.

The second half was owned by Barnette and Jared Pearson, who combined for 31 of the Eagles' 45 points. Pearson was a perfect 6-of-6 from the field in the final 20 minutes as he erupted for 15 second half points. He finished the game with 23 points.

Faith erased its deficit with 14:33 remaining in the game and played neck and neck with the Pilots for the next seven minutes. The key stretch for the Eagles came with 7:44 remaining in the game when Faith broke a 67-67 tie with a 9-2 run. A three-point basket by Seth Freeman was one of the biggest shots of the game, which finally gave the Eagles some breathing room, and they never looked back. Freeman finished with six points off the bench. Overall, Faith's bench scored 45 points between Freeman, Barnette, Andy Hecker (11 points), and Carson Odle (2 points).

With the win, the Eagles improved their record to 3-2 on the season with a quick turnaround game on Monday night at home against Grace Christian University (5-6). The Tigers have played mostly larger school competition and boast a 110-70 victory over one of Faith's familiar foes, Barclay College. Game time is 7 p.m. at the Nettleton Center in Ankeny.