Last Minute Losses Spoil Christmas Classic for Faith

ANKENY, Iowa—Things didn't go as hoped or planned for the Faith Eagles men's basketball team as they hosted the Faith Christmas Classic basketball round-robin this weekend. The Eagles lost a pair of heartbreakers on both Friday night and Saturday night as they enter the long holiday break on a bit of a sour note.

Hot shooting by Faith's opponents along with cold shooting by the Eagles was the difference in both losses over the weekend. Things began ominously on Friday night when Trinity broke a 17-17 tie and connected on seven three-pointers over the last eight minutes of the first half to take a 47-38 lead into the locker room. Trinity was 9-of-12 from three point distance in the first half, shooting 62% from the floor.

The Eagles made their run in the second half, outscoring Trinity 19-9 over a six-minute stretch to take the lead with 7:19 to play. The two teams battled back and forth for the remainder of the contest with four ties and eight lead changes. Trailing by two with 1:31 to play, Jared Pearson tied the game on an offensive rebound and put-back. Following a Trinity basket with 30 seconds remaining, Faith had multiple chances to tie or take the lead but was unable to find a basket, falling 85-81.

Faith hoped to bounce back on Saturday, but things began ominously once again as the team struggled to find the basket. The Eagles scored just three points in the first five minutes. The lid finally came off the hoop over the final ten minutes of the half as the Eagles built a 43-38 lead heading into halftime, scoring 28 points in the last 10 minutes. Chris Barnette was 3-of-4 from three point distance with 13 first-half points. Andy Hecker added 10 off the bench.

The Eagles built their largest lead of the game (10 points) with 10:55 remaining and it looked like they could run away with it, but the next four-minutes would prove to be a key stretch in the game as Maranatha went on a 16-4 run to gain the lead. Like Friday's game, the final five minutes was back-and-forth. Chris Barnette hit a jumper with 1:01 remaining to tie the game at 76. After a Maranatha turnover, the Eagles had multiple chances to win the game but missed on three straight shot attempts in the final 30 seconds, sending the game to overtime.

Every time the Eagles gained momentum or the lead in overtime, Maranatha had an answer. Caleb Moultrie hit a pair of three-pointers in OT that had significant impacts on the game. The first came with 3:52 remaining which tied the game at 79. The final was the dagger as he hit the game-winner with five seconds remaining to give Maranatha the two-point victory. Faith was just 6-of-30 from three-point distance for the game and shot just 36.5% overall in the loss.

Despite the rough shooting night, the Eagles had five players in double figures, led by Chris Barnette's 26 points. Jared Pearson added 15, Logan Fincham scored 13, Andy Hecker had 12 off the bench, and Jayce Goergen chipped in 11.

With the losses, the Eagles fell to 3-5 on the season. Faith's next game is nearly a month away when the team travels on the road to take on Barclay College on Friday, January 6.