Faulkner University

November 14

Faulkner broke open a close game in the second half with smothering defense and blistering shooting and coasted to a 68-50 victory Friday nght over Louisiana State-Shreveport in the Jimmy Faulkner Classic at Tine Davis Gymnasium.

     Junior forward Randell scored 18 points and yanked down 11 rebounds as the Eagles outscored the Pilots 42-26 in the decisive half. LSU-Shreveport (1-2), the defending Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular season champion and Sweet 16 participant in last year's NAIA national tournament, shot just 23 percent from the field and was held a whopping 46 points below its scoring average.

Andrew Williams grabs a rebound and then sends it up for the score

     Faulkner (3-1), meanwhile, made 56 percent of its second half shots en route to the victory. Leading 39-37 with 14:15 left in the game, Andrew Williams' back-to-back baskets sparked a 15-3 run that pushed the advantage to 54-40 with 8:37 left. The Pilots never got closer than 13 the rest of the way. The Eagles' biggest lead was 68-46 with 3:06 to play.

Senior Aaron Greenwood hooks it over a pair of Pilots

     "I'm really proud of this basketball team for how they got after it tonight and played with such intensity,'' Faulkner coach Jim Sanderson said. "I thought we made them defend us in the second half, and we probably wore them down a little bit. Randell was a big part of things for us down low. And we took care of the ball better and rebounded better in the second half, and that was also a key.''

Senior guard Reggie Dupree sends one home from 3-point land

     Faulkner turned the ball over 12 times in the first half but only six times in the second, and the Eagles outrebounded the Pilots 26-17 in the final 20 minutes of play.

     In addition to Moore's strong outing, the Eagles got 10 points and six assists from De Hereford. Josh Gholston added nine, while and Andrew Williams and Reggie Dupree added eight points apiece. LSU-Shreveport was paced by the 17 points Tyrone Hamilton, who made only three of 20 shots from the field. Derrick Parker added 11 for the Pilots, who also got 10 from Chris Gatlin.

Fred Foster knocks one down from behind the arc

     Faulkner trailed only once in the first half - 6-5 with 15:47 on the clock - and built a 22-12 lead on Fred Foster's long three-pointer at the 6:12 mark. The Pilots battled back however, with Hamilton making six straight free throws in an 11-2 run that cut the margin to 24-23 with 1:29 left in the half. The Eagles led by two at the break, 26-24.

Junior Josh Gholston goes for two

     The Eagles face Campbellsville, which lost to Auburn Montgomery 83-73 in overtime Friday, Saturday night at 6. LSU-Shreveport and Auburn Montgomery play at 4.