WICHITA, Kan. – The Friends University Falcons suffered a narrow 63-62 setback to the University of Saint Mary Spires in KCAC action today (Feb. 10) inside the Garvey Center.

Trailing by one possession at 63-60, the Falcons forced a turnover and had a chance to pull even, but a three-pointer by leading scorer KJ Spiller was just in and out as the Spires held on for the win.

The Falcons were forced to come from behind from the outset, with the Spires building a 12-point lead within the first four minutes of the game.

Still down by 12 at 20-8, threes by Deron McDaniel, Spiller and Drew Patterson sparked a 14-4 burst that brought the Falcons within two at the 6:42 mark of the opening half.

Five straight points from Collin Maclin then pulled the Falcons even for the first time and the game remained in a gridlock of 32-32 at the break.

A bucket inside by Tim Barbieri opened the second half and gave Friends its first lead of the game after both teams failed to score during the opening two minutes after halftime.

A vast majority of the second half was tightly contested, with the period featuring eight ties and 14 lead changes until the Spires finally gained some separation when a three-point play by Deshaud St. Martin began a 10-2 spurt to give Saint Mary the biggest lead of either team in the second half at 60-53 with 1:23 left.

The Falcons again refused to go quietly and climbed back within three on another three-point play by Maclin with 33 seconds left.

Maclin led the Falcons (8-15, 5-13 KCAC) with a career-high 16 points, with Spiller adding 15 points. Barbieri added 12 points along with a team-leading nine rebounds. Drew Patterson had three assists for Friends.

St. Martin also scored 16 to lead Saint Mary and Joey Schultz scored 10. Tre Alexander paced the Spires (13-11, 9-9 KCAC) with seven rebounds and four assists.

The Falcons managed to outshoot the Spires 42.3 percent to 35.4 percent and hold a 38-30 edge on the glass, but turned the ball over 18 times that led to Saint Mary holding a 21-13 edge in points off turnovers.