Faulkner University

Montgomery, Ala. – The Eagles entered another conference battle this afternoon against Southern Poly out of Marietta, Ga. The Running Hornets entered the contest at 7-6 overall and 2-2 in the SSAC. The game was all Eagles early on and they continued to dominate deep into the first half. But a tremendous rally by the Hornets took its toll in the long run and the Eagles fell 83-69.

Aaron Greenwood pulls down and offensive rebound in the first half

The Eagles were once again with out senior point guard Bryant Murray who is still recovering from a dislocated shoulder. The team’s leading scorer watched enthusiastically from the sidelines as the Eagles opened the game with a 9-0 run and held a 21 point lead late into the first half. But with less then four minutes to play until the break the Hornets began to knock down shots and the Eagles struggled getting to the rim. The point cushion began to lose its filling and the Eagles found themselves trailing by two at the half.

Reggie Dupree displays some aerobatics for a pair of points

The second period began much like the first with the Eagles putting in six unanswered and forcing the Hornets into an early timeout. Faulkner possessed a new vigor and it proved problematic for Southern Poly until mid-period when multiple Eagle turnovers led to Hornet points. A pair of dunks off of steals kept the crowd noise to a murmur and the Eagles had difficulty stringing together scoring drives.  Little by little the point gap began to widen in the Poly’s favor.

De Hereford is too quick for the defense and gets the score

In a valiant last effort the Eagles began to press the hornets heavily and the force paid off. Faulkner was able to narrow the Hornet lead to 9 points and with the deep threat from the likes of Dupree, Vaughn and Lunn the outcome looked hopeful. In the midst of the Eagles’ rally however, the Hornets’ shots continued to fall, several from three point land, and Faulkner still struggled to score.

Josh Gholston gets two of his eight points on this shot

The Eagles played hard and covered the floor well, but turnovers and missed shots took too much out of the team’s momentum. Faulkner hit only 1-of-11 from behind the arch in the second half while the Hornets dropped in five. Fouls were also lopsided. Southern Poly took 28 shots from the line during the game, while Faulkner took only nine - which tied for fewest in any game this season.

Jon Uriarte puts in two of his team leading 14 points