Evans takes control to bail out shorthanded Faulkner
By A. Stacy Long
Montgomery Advertiser
Jammie Evans was startled by the question.
The Faulkner guard, called toward the bench by assistant coach John Price, had to defend himself during Thursday's 74-56 win over Reinhardt at Tine Davis Gymnasium.
Faulkner was playing without two regular starters, including its second-leading scorer, and was nursing a three-point second-half lead.
Evans, Faulkner's No. 3 scorer, was scoreless from the field.
"Coach Price called me over and asked me what was wrong," Evans said. "He said it looked like I was scared to take it. He told me, 'We need you to score. We need you to pick it up.'
"I thought about it and said, 'He's right.'"
Evans personally turned a precarious 44-41 lead into a comfortable one for Faulkner (12-2, 7-0 Southern States Athletic Conference).
The senior scored on four straight possessions, then assisted on Ernest Jordan's basket to cap a 10-0 run.
"That felt good," Evans said. "It always feels good when you're scoring buckets."
Evans, who was 0-for-5 shooting and had two points before the run, finished with a game-high 15 points, almost double his season average.
Faulkner, which shot 34 percent in the first half, sank 54 percent in the second to beat Reinhardt (9-7, 1-4).
"We just couldn't get anything to fall early," Faulkner coach Jim Sanderson said. "We shot 14 3s and didn't have much of an inside presence in the first half.
"We couldn't keep doing that."
Faulkner played without forward Jon Uriarte, who was suspended, and guard Raul Cardenas, who was out with an ankle injury.
Uriarte, who averages 11.4 points per game, was late returning to the team from Christmas break.
"We had to play with a little different rotation because we didn't have two starters," Sanderson said. "We needed somebody to pick it up and Jammie is very capable of scoring."
Bryant Murray finished with 14 points and Aaron Greenwood added 11 for Faulkner, the NAIA's seventh-ranked team. Carl Williams led Reinhardt with 12 points.
"It seemed a little light over on the bench," Evans said. "We had some guys out of position, but we had practiced for it and we were prepared for it.
"We knew somebody had to pick up the slack."