Men Overrun by Grace University
The Eagle men hosted defending NCCAA II Central Region champion Grace University this past Tuesday. Grace, who is in the process of moving to NAIA, took control from the opening tip and never let up, defeating Faith 95-64. Faith drops to 2-4 with the loss.
Grace jumped out early on Faith with a combination of pressure defense and relentless offensive attack. Faith struggled to respond, trailing by double digits. The Eagles put together a run to pull back within two, but Grace finished the half with their own run, leading 44-31 at the break. The second half was more of the same, with Grace jumping up by 20 and maintaining that lead through the end of the game as both teams emptied their benches. "We were two steps slow all night. We failed to contain, failed to anticipate and be proactive defensively, and failed to block out. Grace has a very athletic team, and when we don't do the little things right, we're going to have this type of result," noted Coach Fincham. Grace recorded 17 offensive rebounds on the night, while Faith had 19 total rebounds. The Royals forced Faith into 15 turnovers. The Eagles did shoot the ball fairly well, but the 18 extra offensive possessions Grace had over the Eagles due to the turnovers and offensive rebounds was simply too much for the Eagles to overcome.
Cody Chaffin led the Eagles with 13 points. Jon Luke Talton added 12, as did Tim O'Tool. The Eagles leading rebounder was Aaron Leistikow with five. Leistikow also recorded three blocks. Jordan Marshall handed out five assists.
The Eagles take a short break for Thanksgiving before jumping right back into things with a road trip to Nebraska Christian College on Monday, December 2. That game will tip at 7 PM.
