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Faulkner stuns Hawks in first round of SSAC Tournament
ROME – Faulkner University advanced to the quarterfinals of the Fuddruckers Southern States Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Championships presented by Floyd County with a 64-61 victory over Shorter University in the first round on Wednesday at The Forum.
The Eagles (12-18), the fifth-seed out of the SSAC West Division, will take on the West’s top-seed, William Carey University, at 8 p.m. on Thursday at The Forum in the quarterfinal round.
The Hawks, the SSAC East Division’s No. 4 seed, bow out with a 23-8 overall record and must wait to see if they earn an at-large bid into the NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship.
Faulkner kept its season alive – the two tournament finalists earn an automatic berth into the national tournament – with a gritty victory that wasn’t decided until the game’s final possession.
Duke Phillips made two free throws with nine seconds left to put Faulkner up 64-61. Shorter’s set play on its ensuing possession was disrupted by a deflection from Faulkner’s Jake Mitchell, but Hawks’ point guard Eric Nix scooped up the loose ball with three seconds to play. His last-second 3-pointer from the right wing rimmed out as time expired, however, helping the Eagles to the first round upset.
Chris Palmore led the way for Faulkner with 16 points as the Eagles led 35-27 at half and twice built a 10-point lead in the final 20 minutes.
Palmore drained two from the charity stripe to put the Eagles up 56-46 with 4:25 left, but Shorter pieced together a late rally.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Walter Hill and Marquise Wright brought the Hawks to within 56-53 and after a stick back by Faulkner’s Camille Ngon a Ngon, Shorter’s Marqise Wright nailed a trey to cut the Eagles’ lead to 58-56 with 2:23 left.
Wright split a pair from the line with 31 seconds remaining to cut the gap to 60-59 in favor of Faulkner and after two more Palmore free throws, Nix drove in for a layup to bring the Hawks back within 62-61 and set the stage for the final seconds.
Faulkner, which won its last three games of the season by one point apiece to earn its way into the tournament field of 10 teams, shot 41 percent and outrebounded the Hawks 42-34.
Hill led the Hawks with 26 points and five rebounds on 9-for-15 shooting. Wright, playing in potentially his final collegiate game for the Hawks, finished with 13 points and seven rebounds. Nix had five points and a game-high nine assists for the Hawks, who forced 24 turnovers from Faulkner, but struggled from beyond the arc, shooting just 5-for-22 from distance.
Phillips joined teammate Palmore in double figures with 10. Faulkner shot well from the foul line, draining 18 of 21 chances at the stripe.
