Eagles Sharp in Regular Season Finale

ANKENY, Iowa—A quick and scrappy Ecclesia team visited the Nettleton Center Friday afternoon and did all it could to rattle the Eagles with an aggressive ball-hawking style of defense.  Eagles point guard Chris Barnette came out of the battle with scars that looked like he was attacked by a hawk (more like a raptor), but Faith was the sharpest team in the end as the Eagles came away with a 75-64 victory.

Ecclesia's defense forced Faith into 24 turnovers, but the Eagles never trailed throughout the 40 minutes of action. It was Faith's defense on the opposite end that held the Royals to 8-of-28 shooting (0-for-8 from three) in the first half which allowed Faith to build a 14-point lead as they headed to the locker room up 35-21.

Faith expected an Ecclesia run in the second half, and received several attempts at one, but each time the Royals got a little too close, Faith came through with a run-stopping basket, almost always from Jared Pearson. After Ecclesia had pulled within eight with 17:16 left, it was Pearson who came up with a basket to swing the momentum. Ecclesia made another run midway through the second half, trimming a 16-point deficit back to 10 before Pearson answered again to stop the Royals' run. At the 9:36 mark, it was Pearson once again who squelched another Ecclesia run with a three-pointer to stretch the lead back to 12.

In his final home game in an Eagles uniform, Chris Barnette led the way with 24 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 assists. Pearson finished with 18 points and 7 rebounds, and Carson Odle rounded out the double-digit scoring with 11 points. Three-time team captain Jayce Goergen was also playing in the final home game of his career and finished with 2 points and 4 assists.

With the win, the Eagles take a record of 16-13 into the North Region Tournament this week. Faith faces the winner of Central Christian College of the Bible and Moody on March 2 at 8:30 p.m. at Emmaus Bible College in Dubuque, Iowa.