Eagle Men Crack Top 10
A record setting 12 game win streak has gotten the Eagle men national attention, as they received a #9 ranking in the most recent NCCAA II National Top 10. Faith briefly was in the Top 10 early in the season, before a rough three week stretch in late November / early December saw the Eagles drop 4 of 5 games, which dropped them out of the Top 10.
The Eagles have responded in the second half of the season with renewed energy, a new style of play, and a true team effort, earning them 12 straight victories and to date an unblemished Midwest Christian College Conference (MCCC) record. Faith will finish out the regular season this weekend with conference games at Ozark Christian College and Calvary Bible College.
Faith stands at 6-0 so far, and owns the head to head with second place Barclay College, so Faith has already wrapped up the regular season conference championship. At stake this weekend for Ozark is a 3rd or 4th place finish, and for the Eagles, the pursuit of a perfect conference record. The Eagles will have their work cut out for them, as Ozark has played each team above them in the standings to within 3 points or less. Both the Ozark game and the Calvary game will have the added emotion of a senior night, so the Eagles will have to be on top of their game to come away with victories.
The Eagles run through the second half has been a combination of solid defense and efficient offense. Faith went to a 10 man rotation, turning up the pressure on the opposing teams. The result has been a second semester in which the Eagles have held opponents to just 38% from the floor overall, and 29% from behind the arc. Faith has forced an average of 18 turnovers and recorded an average of 12 steals in each game during that run. The Eagles have shot 70 more free throws than their opponents over that span as well. All of those marks are a significant improvement over the Eagles first half statistics. After giving up an average of 79 points to their opponents during the first semester, the Eagles have held their opponents to only 63 points per game during the second semester, as well as outrebounding opponents by 11 during the second half, compared to 1 during the first semester.
Faith will move into postseason play beginning next week. The Eagles will head to Haviland, KS, home of the Barclay Bears, who is the 2015 MCCC Tournament host. The Eagles will likely face St. Louis Christian College in the first round of play on Thursday.
Following the conference tournament, the Eagles will head North to Ellendale, ND, where they will participate in the NCCAA II North Central Regional Tournament hosted by Trinity Bible College. The Eagles enter as the third seed, and will face a very good host team in Trinity Bible in the semi-final on Friday at 8pm. Should the Eagles advance to the regional championship, that game will be on Saturday at 3pm.
The following weekend, the Eagles will travel to Joplin, MO, for the annual Association of Christian College Athletics (ACCA) National Tournament. Seedings and pairings for that tournament will come out the weekend before the tournament starts. This year's tournament will be a 10 team tournament, and the Eagles will likely open play on Thursday. Should the Eagles advance to the NCCAA II National Tournament, that event will take place the following week at Ohio Christian University.
