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NAIA TOURNAMENT: Faulkner gets win, moves into Elite 8
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Faulkner held on to beat McKendree 87-79 in the second round of the NAIA tournament late Friday night at Municipal Auditorium.
Jammie Evans scored 25 points and Richarde McCray had 23 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Eagles into the national quarterfinals for the third time in school history.
Faulkner (23-10) plays Northwest Oklahoma at 8 p.m. today. Northwest Oklahoma (22-11) advanced with a 58-57 win Friday over Xavier-New Orleans.
The Eagles led by as many as 18 points in the second half, but McKendree (23-12) cut it to as few as two points in the final minute. Nick Livas' 3-pointer with 54.2 seconds remaining made it 81-79.
Faulkner was 6-of-6 on free throws in the final minute -- Evans had four of them and McCray two.
The Eagles led 79-66 with 31/2 minutes to play before the Bearcats scored 10 straight points.
Jon Uriarte made 8 of 10 shots and finished with 16 points.
Eric Palm's 21 points led the Bearcats. Mike Strobbe had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Livas 18 points. T.J. Stone added 10.
Faulkner grabbed a comfortable lead with a 14-2 run in the first half. Evans scored seven points in the run.
Evans' 3-pointer from the top of the key, with the shot clock running out, gave the Eagles a 37-25 lead with 5:19 left in the half. Faulkner led by as many as 15 points in the first half.
The Eagles held the Bearcats to two field goals over the first 11 minutes of the second half and led by as many as 18 points.
Faulkner and McKendree, the last of eight games played Friday, tipped off at 11:04 p.m. It ended at 12:41 a.m. today.
The Eagles also reached the round in 2000 before losing to Georgetown (Ky.) 80-61. Faulkner rolled through it in 2001 on its way to a national championship.
Tonight's game will be broadcast on WACV-AM 1170.