Goergen Shines in Eagles Debut/Win

ANKENY, Iowa—Faith Eagles freshman Jayce Goergen scored 21 points and dished out 10 assists in his collegiate debut Saturday evening against Free Lutheran Bible College as the Eagles won their season opener, 92-82.

Goergen, a point guard from Ankeny Christian Academy, was 7 of 12 from the floor, and 3 of 7 from three-point distance. Senior forward Tanner Van Beek matched Goergen's game-high with 21 points and provided a potent inside-outside combination for the Eagles. Chase Clark also added a double-double for Faith with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The Eagles shot 51.5% from the floor and 33.3% from three (9-27). They outrebounded Free Lutheran 40-32.

Faith led by as many as ten points less than five minutes into the game, but Free Lutheran charged back to tie it at 23-23, midway through the half. The Eagles stretched the lead back to 11 with 4:29 remaining in the first half, but Free Lutheran came back again to pull within three. A Kalab Sidlinger three-pointer with 34 seconds remaining secured a six-point halftime lead for the Eagles.

Faith stretched their second-half lead back to ten with 16:39 remaining, but hit a dry spell over the next three minutes as the lead shrank to three. The Eagles gradually built their lead to as many as 19 points as they cruised to the ten-point win. Sidlinger added 16 points for Faith and some needed three-point shooting (3-6), and freshman Nathan Keck added 11 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists in his collegiate debut.

The Eagles play at Union College Tuesday night at 6:00 p.m.  It will be the first of a four-game stretch in five days for Faith.