Leavenworth, Kan. – Make it two victories in two games in the final second for the No. 20-ranked Friends University Falcons, this time getting a three-point play from Abigail Barr with just three tenths of a second left for an 87-86 victory at the University of Saint Mary Spires this evening (Jan. 28) in Leavenworth, Kan.
The win is key for the Falcons, who are now 18-3 overall and remain in second place in the KCAC at 12-3 in the league. Friends is one full game in front of both Bethel College and Bethany College for the second spot and 2.5 games behind conference unbeaten Evangel University.
The winning sequence came when Barr took the inbounds pass from Anna Sant'Anna and hit a game-tying layup while drawing the foul. She then hit the go-ahead free throw to complete the improbable victory for the Falcons.
Things looked bleak for the Falcons after trailing by as many as 19 in the third quarter and still down 12 following a three-pointer by Keely Barnard with 3:56 left in the game.
A score by Heaven Gilbert and a three-pointer from Lauryn McIver started the rally, but Barnard hit another three to push the lead back to 10 at the 2:39 mark.
Trailing by eight with 2:17 left, KK Peeler made things happen on both ends with a layup and then a steal that led to another layup to quickly make it a four-point game at 77-73 with 1:56 left.
The Falcons continued their surge and got buckets from McIver, Raegan Bugaj and Barr that resulted in their first lead of the game with now 58 seconds remaining.
Saint Mary would fight back and got a three-point play from Mary Olson to regain the lead.
Peeler scored again to tie things up, but a three by Addison Tower put the Spires back up 84-81 with 26 seconds left.
But a big three by Bugaj again brought the Falcons even and paved the way for the wild final stretch.
The Falcons had trailed from the outset, as the Spires quickly opened up a 12-2 lead and led 25-14 at the end of the first quarter and then 44-32 at the break. The deficit for the Falcons was still double digits at 62-52 heading into the fourth.
Bugaj scored a team-high 17 points and Sant'Anna added a career-high 15 points to provide the Falcons with a strong offensive performance off the bench. Peeler also poured in a career-best 15 points and Barr recorded a double-double of 13 points and a season-best 12 rebounds. McIver chipped in with 11 points for Friends.
Barnard paced the Spires with a game-high 24 points and Towers finished with 18 points. Abby Wendte had 16 points and six assists, with Summer Wieneke scoring 13 and Olson adding 11 points. Saige Grampsas recorded a team-high nine rebounds for the Spires (13-8, 10-5 KCAC).
The Falcons shot 46.3 percent overall from the field and 50 percent from three-point distance, compared to just 40.6 percent and 35.5 percent clips by the Spires.
Friends will next host Avila University Saturday afternoon (Jan. 31) at 1 pm inside the Garvey Center.
Note: The Falcons jumped three spots today to No. 20 in the NAIA Coaches' Top 25 poll for their highest national ranking since they were ranked 16th in the 2017-18 preseason coaches' poll.
