WICHITA, Kan. – The Friends University Falcons were victorious on Senior Day 80-54 over the Avila University Eagles to wrap up the 2023-24 season on a high note today (Feb. 24) inside the Garvey Center.
Leading by two at the half, the Falcons immediately took charge and broke things open by outscoring the Eagles 19-2 during the first 7:30 of the second half to take a 54-35 lead.
KJ Spiller scored seven of his game-high 21 points to fuel the surge and Kee'on Hutton added five points to put Friends in complete command.
Maintaining at least a 13 point lead the rest of the way, the Falcons continued to pour it on as the final 26-point margin of victory was the biggest lead of the day for Friends.
James Ross III hit two threes to begin the game for Avila, but the Falcons quickly answered behind threes from Drew Patterson, Al Emerllahu and Spiller to score the next 10 points.
After Avila went back on top by one, a three by Hutton kicked off a 9-0 spurt to give Friends an eight-point lead at the 9:04 mark of the first half.
A three by Spiller and two free throws from Collin Maclin eventually pushed the Falcon lead to double-figures before a four-point play by Ayris Abdelnassar with one second left helped the Eagles close within 35-33 at the break.
Spiller shot 7-of-13 from the field and 4-of-7 from three-point distance in scoring his game-high 21 points while also pulling down seven rebounds. Barbieri led everyone with eight rebounds and scored 11 points, including finishing an alley-oop late in the second half in his final game as a Falcon. Hutton added 12 points and Maclin also scored 11. Also competing for the final time in a Falcon uniform, Patterson scored six and hit 3-of-4 at the charity stripe for Friends (9-18, 6-16 KCAC).
?Ross III paced the Eagles (4-20, 3-19 KCAC) with 13 points and Abdelnassar added 12 points.
The Falcons dominated play inside, outscoring the Eagles 30-6 in the paint and 13-5 in second chance points along with a 45-28 edge in rebounding.
Friends also limited Avila to just 30.9 percent shooting from the field, including a 26.9 percent clip in the second half.
"I'm very happy for our seniors Tim and Drew along with all our team for finishing the year with a win," said first-year Friends men's basketball head coach Phil McClintock. "Things weren't easy in the first half but our defensive effort and transition offense in the second half allowed us to stretch the lead."
