WICHITA, Kan. -- The Friends University Falcons extended their winning streak to four games with a convincing 74-64 victory over the University of Saint Mary Spires tonight (Jan. 29) inside the Garvey Center. The Falcons entered the game in a three-way tie for first with Oklahoma Wesleyan University and Saint Mary, but now find themselves in a gridlock only with OKWU for the top spot in the KCAC, who defeated Avila tonight. 

Leading 18-15 just past the midway point of the first half, the Falcons began to pull away behind a score from KJ Spiller and an alley-oop from Randy Woolf, Jr. to Ring Deng that electrified the Garvey Center faithful as part of a 10-2 surge that created a double-digit advantage. 

The Falcons built the first half lead as high as 16 on a three by Spiller before taking a 41-28 lead into the break. 

Friends kept Saint Mary at arm's length throughout much of the second half, never letting the lead dip below seven. 

The Spires managed to come within seven on four different occasions, but each time the Falcons scored on their very next possession to prevent the lead from shrinking any further. 

With the lead hovering at eight with 3:34 left, a score by Woolf, Jr. capped a run of six straight points for the Falcons to effectively put the game away at the 1:45 mark. 

"This was a big time win for us," said Friends men's basketball head coach Phil McClintock. "The game was extremely physical on both ends and I was proud how our guys stuck with the game plan. We don't have long to celebrate as we have to hit the road against a very tough Avila team on Saturday."

Spiller led the Falcons (16-5, 12-3 KCAC) with a standout performance, scoring 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including a pair of 3-pointers and four assists. Woolf, Jr. and Cahlese Lee each scored 13, while Collin Maclin had a stat line of 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists and Deng finished with 10 points and a team-high nine boards. 

Jordan Brown paced the Spires (14-7, 11-4 KCAC) with 22 points, with Bryce Johnson scoring 10 points and recording a team-high eight rebounds. 

Friends was efficient on both ends of the floor, shooting a robust 52.9 percent (27-of-51) from the field while limiting the Spires to just 38.7 percent (24-of-62) shooting overall and 22.7 percent (5-of-22) from three-point distance. 

As McClintock noted, the Falcons will next make the trek to Kansas City, Mo. to face the Avila University Eagles Saturday afternoon (Feb. 1) at 3 pm. 

Game Note: Friends is now 14-0 this season when leading in rebounding after narrowly eclipsing the Spires on the boards 35-33.