KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Friends University Falcons held off a second half push by the Avila University Eagles to notch a 67-63 road victory in KCAC action tonight (Jan. 10) in Kansas City, Mo.
Leading by a point at halftime, the Falcons quickly took charge by reeling off a 25-9 burst during the opening nine minutes of the second half.
KJ Spiller scored the first five points to ignite the spurt while three-point plays by Steve Staco, Tim Barbieri and Steele Chapman followed on the next three possessions to bolster the run.
A Drew Patterson three-pointer and a Christian Williams layup finished the big push and staked the Falcons to a 55-38 lead with 11:23 left in the game.
The Eagles then staged a furious comeback behind eight points from Jaren Miller and six by James Ross III that fueled a 16-0 run to suddenly make it a one-point game with still 4:45 left in the game.
Undeterred, the Falcons regrouped and scored the next eight points over the next four minutes to effectively put the game away.
During the decisive push, the Falcons clamped down on the defensive end and forced the Eagles to miss their next four shots along with a pair of turnovers.
"Tonight was a big win for us on the road," said Friends men's basketball head coach Phil McClintock. "It wasn't easy, but we stuck together as a unit and found ways to get enough stops and buckets to win. We are looking forward to getting back on our home court this weekend."
The opening half was tight much of the way, but the Falcons managed to open up an eight-point lead when a three by Deron McDaniel started a 7-0 spurt to make it 19-11 at the 12:47 mark.
Avila answered back with nine straight points, including consecutive threes by Jared Larson to take a one-point lead.
Down 27-23 with 4:04 left until halftime, a jumper by Spiller and a three-pointer from Al Emerllahu erased the Eagles' lead and the Falcons carried a 30-29 lead into the break.
Spiller led the Falcons with a game-high 21 points and Patterson finished with 11 points. Emerllahu scored 10, while Staco led everyone with eight rebounds and Chapman dished out a team-leading four assists for Friends.
Ross III paced the Eagles with 15 points and Miller wound up with 12 points. Jehoiada Goins led Avila with five rebounds and George Williams had a game-high five assists.
The Falcons will next return home to host Sterling College Saturday night (Jan. 13) at 7 pm inside the Garvey Center.
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