WICHITA, Kan. – The Ottawa University Braves outscored the Friends University Falcons 53-44 in the second half to overcome a three-point halftime deficit and win 97-91 in KCAC action tonight (Dec. 2) inside the Garvey Center.
The Falcons were up by three at halftime and then by seven within the first two minutes of the second half, but five points from Jayden Hibbitt keyed seven straight for Ottawa to tie the game at 53-53.
A three by Kee'on Hutton and a score from KJ Spiller temporarily turned the tide and put the Falcons on top five.
Ottawa immediately tied it less than a minute later, and following two more gridlocks, a pair of threes from Ricardo Zambrano powered a 14-4 burst that suddenly had the Braves up by nine at 80-71 with 8:04 left in the game.
That run gave the Braves the boost it needed to hold off the Falcons, as they led by as many as 10 and never let the lead dip below six the rest of the way.
The Falcons found themselves down early, with the Braves scoring the first six points of the game and leading 12-5 at the 16:49 mark of the opening half.
Hutton then scored five straight to ignite a 7-0 spurt to bring the Falcons even at 12-12.
Friends trailed by five four more times in the first half before a layup by Drew Patterson finished a 6-0 push to give the Falcons its first lead of the game at 30-29 with 6:28 left until the half.
A four-point play by Patterson later increased the Falcon lead to six and it was still a six-point edge until a three by Deondre Buggage brought the Braves within 47-44 at the break.
Each team placed six players in double-figure scoring, with Hutton leading the Falcons (3-5, 1-3 KCAC) with 20 points and Collin Maclin adding 15 points off the bench. Spiller finished with 12 points, while Al Emerllahu and Christian Williams each scored 11 in a reserve role. Patterson wound up with 10 points, with Tim Barbieri recording a team-high nine rebounds and Steele Chapman leading the Falcons with three assists.
The Braves were led by 25 points from Hibbitt along with 22 points and seven assists by Buggage. Angok Anyang also had a double-double of 13 points and 18 boards for Ottawa (6-3, 2-2 KCAC).
Ottawa had a 40-33 edge overall on the glass and warmed up to a 59.5 shooting percentage (22-of-37) in the second half, while the Falcons also shot above the 50 percent mark after halftime with a 51.5 percent (17-of-33) clip.
The Falcons will next be at the University of Saint Mary Wednesday night (Dec. 6) for an 8 pm tip-off in Leavenworth, Kan.
