The Lowdown: Haskell Indian Nations University at Friends University

Location: Garvey Center

When: Tuesday, Nov. 21 @ 7 pm

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Flying with the Falcons: The Friends University Falcons rallied from an early 18-point deficit to grind out a thrilling 70-66 victory over the McPherson College Bulldogs in their KCAC home opener Saturday night (Nov. 18) inside the Garvey Center. The Falcons evened their conference record at 1-1 and are now 2-3 overall on the season.

The Falcons missed their first eight field-goal attempts and found themselves in an 18-0 hole just over five minutes into the contest.

Tim Barbieri got the Falcons on the board with a three-point play and Christian Williams took over from there, converting a steal into a tomahawk dunk and then nailing two three-pointers to trim the deficit to just seven at 18-11.

Friends still trailed by seven when Drew Patterson connected from the perimeter to jumpstart a 7-2 spurt to make it 31-29.

After a three by Kee'on Hutton cut the McPherson lead to just one, Quinn Collins scored to give the Bulldogs a 37-34 lead at the break.

The Falcons hung close in the early stages of the second half and finally took their first lead of the game on a bucket by Al Emerllahu for a 42-41 edge at the 15:51 mark.

Following multiple lead changes, KJ Spiller came through big with back-to-back threes, one to give the Falcons a lead they wouldn't relinquish and another for a four-point cushion with just 35 seconds left.

With the Falcons clinging to a 68-66 lead, Hutton stepped up and hit two crucial free throws to create the final four-point margin with 16 seconds remaining and complete the comeback for the Falcons.

Spiller wound up with a game-high 19 points for Friends and Williams added 12 points. Spiller led the way with seven rebounds and three assists, with Hutton also recording three helpers. Emerllahu had a team-leading three steals for the Falcons.

Following their 0-8 start from the floor, the Falcons warmed up and shot 54 percent (27-of-50) from the field during the final 34:30.

Patterson is tied for first on the Falcons with 11.8 points per game this season and is tied for third in the KCAC with a 51.9 percent clip from three-point distance. Spiller is also averaging 11.8 ppg and has dished out a team-leading 2.6 assists per game, while Tim Barbieri has corralled a team-leading 6.8 rebounds.

As a team, the Falcons are shooting 47.6 percent overall from the floor and a solid 36.8 percent from the perimeter.

Scouting the Indians: The Haskell Indian Nations University Indians are 1-5 on the season after winning their first game on Nov. 11 94-79 over Bacone College.

Bansi King is the Indians' top scorer with 14.3 ppg on the season, with Nehemiah Boykins leading the team in both rebounding (4.8 rpg) and assists (2.0 apg).

The Indians are shooting 37.7 percent from the floor and 31.5 percent from three-point distance.

The Series: The Falcons and Indians have split two meetings on record, with Haskell winning last season's matchup 73-71 at home in Lawrence, Kan. Previously, Friends won 74-69 at home on Jan. 7, 2020.        

Quoting head coach Phil McClintock:     

?"We are coming off a big win on Saturday and are hoping to keep the momentum going. Haskell plays up tempo and can really score the ball so we will have to be prepared to guard from the start."

Sponsor Alerts: Friends University Athletics is excited to have Home2 Suites by Hilton back as an official athletic sponsor this season! For more on what they can offer, click HERE to visit their official webpage.

Falcons by the Numbers:

Overall record: 2-3

KCAC: 1-1

Home: 2-0

Road: 0-3

Neutral: 0-0

When scoring:                                             

Under 50 points: 0-0

50-59 points: 0-0

60-69 points: 0-1

70-79 points: 1-2

80-89 points: 0-0

90+ points: 1-0

When allowing:

Under 50 points:

50-59 points: 1-0

60-69 points: 1-0

70-79 points: 0-0

80-89 points: 0-2

90+ points: 0-1

When leading at halftime: 1-0

When trailing at halftime: 1-3

When tied at halftime: 0-0

When committing fewer turnovers: 2-2

When committing more turnovers: 0-1

When turnovers are tied: 0-0

When leading in field-goal percentage: 2-0

When trailing in field-goal percentage: 0-3

When field-goal percentage is tied: 0-0

When leading in three-point percentage: 2-1

When trailing in three-point percentage: 0-2

When three-point percentage is tied: 0-0

When leading in rebounding: 1-0

When trailing in rebounding: 1-3

When rebounding is tied: 0-0

When leading in assists: 2-1

When trailing in assists: 0-2

When assists are tied: 0-0

In OT: 0-0

The Coaches:

Phil McClintock is in his first season as head coach of the Friends University men's basketball program.

McClintock brings a stark familiarity of the KCAC to Friends, highlighted by an eight-year tenure as Associate Men's Basketball Head Coach at Ottawa University.

At Ottawa, McClintock served as the recruiting coordinator and was responsible for film breakdown and scouting reports.

2019-20 was a breakout season, as McClintock brought in six of the team's top 10 players that produced a school-record 28 victories, a regular season KCAC championship and an NAIA Sweet 16 appearance (tournament ended early due to COVID-19).

In addition to his basketball coaching experience at Ottawa, McClintock has also been the Braves Men's and Women's Golf head coach for the past four seasons.

McClintock's first basketball head coaching position came at Salem high school, where he spent three seasons and guided the team in the 2014-15 campaign to their first winning record in eight years.

A strong developer of young players, McClintock has served as a Camp Coach at the KU Bill Self Basketball Camps every year since 2012. His responsibilities at the camp include running drills, coaching teams and developing player skills.

His first career coaching job was a two-year tenure as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at William Woods University from 2010-12.

McClintock also played collegiately at Ottawa and enjoyed immense success, earning two NAIA All-America honors, a pair of All-KCAC nods while finishing his career as the all-time leader in blocked shots and top five all-time in scoring, rebounding and steals. An Ottawa University Hall of Fame inductee in 2021, he helped the Braves to two conference titles and a pair of NAIA Sweet 16 berths.

A 2009 graduate of Ottawa University in Physical Education and Health, McClintock then earned his Master of Education in Athletics/Activities Administration from William Woods University in 2012.

McClintock and his wife Kirsten have three boys, Lawson (14), Jackson (10), and Bodie (two).

Matthew Downing has been the head coach of the Haskell Indian Nations University men's basketball program since 2015 and has amassed over 20 years of coaching experience overall.

Collegiately, Downing was a guard for four years at the University of Maryland.    

Up Next: The Falcons will be off for Thanksgiving Break and then resume KCAC action next Wednesday night (Nov. 29) at Bethany College for an 8 pm tip-off in Lindsborg, Kan.