Columbia, Mo. – Sparked by a career-high 34 points from Rayland Garner, the (RV) Friends University Falcons handed the (RV) Columbia College Cougars their first loss of the season in a hard-fought 80-75 victory today (Dec. 31) in Columbia, Mo. The win pushes the Falcons overall record to 12-1 on the season.
Facing a 71-62 deficit with just 3:37 remaining, the Falcons went to work as four points each from Garner and Lauryn McIver powered an 11-0 spurt that put Friends up by one at the 1:27 mark of the fourth quarter.
After two free throws by Lexi Rubel briefly put the Cougars back on top, a layup by Abigail Barr quickly gave the Falcons the lead back with 45 seconds remaining.
Following a turnover by the Cougars, Raegan Bugaj hit two clutch free throws to extend the Falcon lead to three with 24 seconds left.
The Falcons then forced a miss on the defensive end and McIver nailed four straight free throws to ice the big victory for Friends.
Columbia started strong and twice led by a game-high 11 points before settling for a 20-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.
A three by Lexi Miller pushed the Cougar lead back to 10, but six points from McIver keyed a 9-0 push that brought Friends within one at 25-24.
The Falcons kept chipping away as Garner scored the last five points of the half to take their first lead of the game 31-30 going into the break.
The third quarter went back and forth, with a layup by KK Peeler giving the Falcons a 50-48 lead until the Cougars scored the last six points to lead 54-50 heading to the fourth.
Garner shot 15-of-22 from the field and had 10 rebounds as part of her double-double performance. McIver finished with 18 points along with four rebounds and three assists. Barr added 11 points and Peeler had three steals.
Ashtyn Klusmeyer led the Cougars (11-1) with 25 points and Miller was next with 20 points and a team-leading four assists. Rubel recorded a team-high 10 boards for Columbia.
The Falcons shot 52.5 percent (32-of-61) overall from the field while limiting Columbia to a 41.4 percent (29-of-70) clip.
Friends will next resume KCAC action at home Saturday (Jan. 3) vs. Ottawa University. Tip-off is set for 1 pm inside the Garvey Center.
Purchase tickets to catch the red-hot Falcons on Saturday HERE!!!
